Philippe Soupault

Who was Philippe Soupault?

Philippe Soupault was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later founded the Surrealist movement with André Breton. Soupault initiated the periodical Littérature together with the writers Breton and Louis Aragon in Paris in 1919, which, for many, marks the beginnings of Surrealism. The first book of automatic writing, Les champs magnétiques, was co-authored by Soupault and Breton. He directed Radio Tunis from 1937 to 1940, when he was arrested by the pro-Vichy regime. He fled successfully to Algiers.

After imprisonment by the Nazis during World War II, Soupault traveled to the United States, teaching at Swarthmore College but returned subsequently to France in October 1945. His works include such large volumes of poetry as Aquarium and Rose des vents [compass card] and the novel Les Dernières Nuits de Paris.

In 1957 he wrote the libretto for Germaine Tailleferre's Opera La Petite Sirène, based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale "The Little Mermaid". The work was broadcast by French Radio National in 1959.