- Benjamin Péret
Benjamin Péret (
4 July 1899 -18 September 1959 ) was a French poet andSurrealist .Benjamin Péret was born in
Rezé (Loire-Atlantique ) on4 July 1899 , and enlisted in the army to avoid being jailed. He saw action in the Balkans, and served through the war. Afterwards, he joined theDada movement, and in 1921 published "Le Passager du transtlantique" his first book of poetry. He left the Dada movement followingAndré Breton and joinedSurrealism .He worked with and influenced other poets such as
Octavio Paz .In the fall of 1924 he was the co-editor of the journal "La Révolution surréaliste ", becoming chief editor in 1925. In 1928, before living inBrazil (1929-1932), with his wifeElsie Houston , he published "Le Grand Jeu". Buffetted by the winds of politics, he fought in theSpanish Civil War , met Nathalia Sedova,Trotsky 's widow in Mexico City (1942-1948), and returned to France and then spent the remainder of his life inParis . He was married to the Spanish artistRemedios Varo and they escaped Europe together with the help of the American basedEmergency Rescue Committee . Barred from immigration to the United States because of Péret's political history they instead immigrated to Mexico where they lived together in Mexico City until their divorce in 1947.He died on
18 September 1959 inParis .External links
* [http://lyceeduparc.free.fr/foliotage/itinbuis/roche/peret.html A biography of Péret in French]
* [http://www.benjamin-peret.org/ Association des amis de Benjamin Péret]
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