Andre Breton

André Breton , 1896-1966, French writer, founder and theorist of the surrealist movement. He studied neuropsychology and was one of the first in France to publicize the work of Freud. At first a Dadaist, he collaborated with Philippe Soupault in automatic writing in Les Champs magnétiques (1921). He then turned to surrealism , writing three manifestos (1924, 1930, 1934) and opening a studio for "surrealist research." Breton helped to found several reviews: Littérature (1919), Minotaure (1933), and VVV (1944). His other works include Nadja (1928, tr. 1960), a semiautobiographical novel; What is Surrealism? (1934, tr. 1936); Ode à Charles Fourier (1946); and L' Art Magique (1957).

Bibliography: See biography by M. Polizzotti (1995); study by A. E. Balakian (1971); A. E. Balakian and R. E. Kuenzli, ed., André Breton Today (1989).

Breton, André (1896–1966) French poet and theorist. A founder and poet of the surrealism movement, he wrote Manifeste du surréalisme (1924) and Le Surréalisme et la Peinture (1928). His fictional works, an autobiographical novel Nadja (1928), Les Vases Communicants (1932), L'Amour Fou (1937) and Poèmes (1948), reflect surrealist theories. See also Dada