Aragon, Louis (1897–1982)

French poet and novelist. Beginning as a Dadaist, he became one of the leaders of Surrealism, published volumes of verse, and in 1930 joined the Communist Party. Taken prisoner in World War II, he escaped to join the Resistance; his experiences are reflected in the poetry of Le Crève-coeur/Heart-break (1941) and Les Yeux d'Elsa/Elsa's Eyes (1942).

His novels include the surrealist Le Paysan de Paris/The Nightwalker (1926), describing the relentless decay of the European bourgeoisie, and later social-realistic novels, including Les Communistes/The Communists (1949–51), La Semaine sainte/Holy Week (1958), La Mise à mort/The Kill (1965), and Blanche, ou l'oubli/Blanche or Forgetting (1967).

With André Breton, he cofounded the review Littérature in 1919; he also edited Ce Soir 1935–39 and Les Lettres françaises 1944–72, and was active in making Russian literature known in France. He was married to the novelist and critic Elsa Triolet 1896–1970.

Aragon published two early volumes of poetry: Feu de joie/Bonfire (1920) and Le Mouvement perpétuel/Perpetual Movement (1926). His war poetry (Le Crève-coeur and La Diane française 1945) and love poems (Les Yeux d'Elsa and Elsa 1959) gradually made way for autobiography, art criticism, aesthetics, and novels.