Louis Aragon was a French historian, poet and novelist, and a member
of the Académie Goncourt. Having been involved in Dada from
1919 to 1924, Aragon became a founding member of Surrealism in 1924
with André Breton and Philippe Soupault. Aragon joined the
French Communist Party with several other surrealists. He would
remain a member for the rest of his life, writing several political
poems including one to Maurice Thorez, however he was also critical
of the USSR, particularly during the 50's.
In
1939 he married Russian-born author Elsa Triolet (born 1896),
the sister-in-law of Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. During
the World War II German occupation of France he wrote for the
underground press Les Éditions de Minuit.
One
noted Aragon poem is "Red Poster," in which he honoured
foreigners who died while fighting to free France. This was done
in response to the Nazi propaganda campaign named Red Poster,
which aimed at convincing the French people that the resistance
movement was composed of foreigners, mainly Jewish, who served
the interests of Britain and the Soviet Union.
After
the death of his wife on June 16, 1970, Aragon revealed his bisexuality
and appeared at gay pride parades in a pink convertible. |
