Tzara, Tristan (1896-1963)

French poet, born in Romania. In Zürich, Switzerland, in 1916, together with the artist Hans Arp and other World War I refugee poets, he founded the nihilistic movement known as Dada, from which surrealism was to develop. His works include La Première aventure céleste de Monsieur Antipyrine/The First Heavenly Adventure of Mr Antipyrine 1916 and Vingt-cinq poèmes/Twenty-five Poems 1918, as well as Dadaist manifestos.

Tzara sought to reconcile the anarchistic tendencies of Dada and surrealism with his own left-wing convictions. He joined the Communist Party in the 1930s and the French Resistance movement during World War II. Among his later work is L'Homme approximatif/The Approximate Man 1931 and Parler seul/Speaking Alone 1950.