Source: National Archives & Historic Records of France
Literature & Poetry • Historical Archive • 🇫🇷 France • 0 views

Paul Éluard 🇫🇷

Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (Known as "The Poet of Freedom")
Surrealist Poet, Communist, Resistance Bard, Author of 'Liberté' and Capitale de la douleur
Born Dec 14, 1895 🇫🇷 Saint-Denis, France
Passed Away Nov 18, 1952 Charenton-le-Pont (near Paris), France
Lifespan 56 years old
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"Sur mes cahiers d'écolier / Sur mon pupitre et les arbres / Sur le sable sur la neige / J'écris ton nom... Liberté."

Archival Overview

Beloved French Surrealist lyric poet whose sublime wartime poem 'Liberté' (1942) was parachuted by Royal Air Force planes in thousands of copies over occupied France, becoming the sacred hymn of the Resistance.

Biographical Record

Traumatized by poison gas in World War I, Éluard was a founding pillar of Surrealism alongside André Breton and his wife Gala (who later married Salvador Dalí). In Capitale de la douleur (1926), he perfected a transparent, luminous lyricism celebrating passionate love and universal brotherhood.

Joining the underground resistance in World War II, he published Poésie et vérité 1942 containing his 21-stanza masterpiece 'Liberté', repeating the incantation: 'Et par le pouvoir d'un mot / Je recommence ma vie / Je suis né pour te connaître / Pour te nommer / Liberté'.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Père Lachaise Cemetery (Division 97)
Paris, France
GPS: 48.8617, 2.3944
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