Robert Desnos
Robert Desnos was a prominent French poet born on July 4, 1900, in Paris. His early literary influences included notable figures such as Victor Hugo and Gérard de Nerval, the latter of whom he regarded as an "alchemist of the word." Desnos became involved in the Surrealist movement under the guidance of André Breton, where he gained recognition for his unique style characterized by automatic writing and dream-like sequences. His early poetry was marked by a deep affection for Yvonne George, a cabaret singer, whom he loved for a decade, although he never named her in his works.
After a break from Surrealism in the 1930s, Desnos shifted his focus to writing scripts for films and advertising, while also producing more traditional poetry. His political and social concerns became more pronounced during World War II, leading him to write poems that reflected the turmoil of the time. Desnos was an active member of the French Resistance until he was arrested by the Gestapo. He was ultimately sent to concentration camps, where he continued to write until his death from typhoid fever on June 8, 1945, shortly after the liberation of Theresienstadt. His legacy as a poet is marked by his innovative approach and the emotional depth of his work, reflecting the complexities of his tumultuous life.
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Robert Desnos
Poet
- Born: July 4, 1900
- Birthplace: Saint-Martin, Paris, France
- Died: June 8, 1945
- Place of death: Theresienstadt, near Terezín, Czechoslovakia
Biography
Robert Desnos was born on July 4, 1900, in the Saint-Martin quarter of Paris, France. In his early reading, he greatly enjoyed the writings of Victor Hugo, Nicolas Flamel, and especially poet Gerard de Nerval, whom Desnos called an “alchemist of the word.” He attended the Communal School, where he was described as “talkative, disorganized, disobedient, scatterbrained, negligent, inattentive, deceitful, and lazy,” before working as a translator for a pharmaceutical laboratory from 1917 to 1919. He then joined the military from 1920 to 1922, first serving in France and then in Morocco.
As a poet, Desnos was influenced by André Breton and soon joined Breton in the early Surrealist movement. Early on, Desnos experimented with automatic writing; he had an odd ability to fall into a seemingly self-induced hypnotic trance, during which he could recite his dreams, write, and draw. His writings thus slip back and forth freely between reality and dream- like sequences; many of these early writings were published in the Surrealist journal Littérature, in which Desnos’s first published poem appeared in 1919.
Throughout the 1920’s, Desnos produced several collections, notably À la Mystérieuse (to the mysterious one); Les ténèbres, 1927 (shadows); and La Liberté ou L’Amour!, also 1927 (liberty or love!). A constant presence in these collections is Yvonne George, a cabaret singer with whom Desnos was in love for ten years, although she is never mentioned by name in the poems. Highly erotic and yet also touched with humor, these poems were noted for their verbal inventiveness and spontaneity. However, when George died in a sanitorium, Desnos married “Youki,” a woman he had met in 1928 and who soon became his romantic inspiration.
In 1930, Desnos broke with the Surrealist movement and began writing movie and radio scripts, advertising, and film criticism. One of his longer and more popular poems, “The Complaint of Fantomas,” was set to music by composer Kurt Weill and broadcast in 1934.Desnos was conscripted in 1939 and sent to the south of France, but was back in Paris by the fall of the same year.
Desiring to express his social and political concerns more straightforwardly after France became involved in World War II, Desnos began writing poetry in more traditional and even classical forms. Throughout the war, he produced poetry collections while working with the clandestine publishing house Les Éditions du Minuit and helping with the French Resistance. Desnos also continued to expand his reach by completing a book of children’s poetry; some of his “slang” poetry appeared during this time under the pseudonyms Lucien Gallois, Pierre Andier, Valentin Guillois, and Cancale.
Desnos was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Compiegne, where Youki saw him for the last time. Desnos was then sent to Buchenwald; one of his last writings was a tender letter to Youki, written from Buchenwald in 1944. As Allied troops approached, many of the Buchenwald prisoners, including Desnos, were marched to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp near Terezín, Czechoslovakia. There Desnos died on June 8, 1945, of typhoid fever, only a few days after Theresienstadt was liberated by the Allies. All his writing done during his imprisonment was thrown away.