André Breton

André Breton (February 18, 1896 - September 28, 1966) was a French poet and author whose writings include the Surrealist manifesto of 1924 in which he defined surrealism as pure psychic automatism.

Born at Tinchebray (Orne) in Normandy, he joined the Dadaist movement in 1916. In 1919 he and Philippe Soupault produced the first volume of automatic writing, Les Champs Magnetiques. He later joined the Surrealists and was editor of La révolution surréaliste from 1924. His works include a novel, Nadja (1928).

Under the German occupation of France during World War II, his work was condemed by the Nazis. With the assistance of American journalist Varian Fry in Marseille, Masson escaped the Nazi regime on a ship to the French island of Martinique from where he went on to the United States. In 1946, he returned to France where he set up a studio in Paris.

André Breton died in 1966 and was interred in the Cimetière des Batignolles in Paris.

• His first wife was the former Simone Kahn;
• His second wife was the former Jacqueline Lamba;
• His third wife was the former Elisa Claro.

References

• What is Surrealism?: Selected Writings of André Breton (edited and with an Introduction by Franklin Rosemont).
• Manifestoes of Surrealism by André Breton, translated by Richard Seaver and Helen R. Lane.\n