“Nuits partagées” by Paul Éluard

Abstract

Paul Éluard (1895–1952) authored more than thirty poetry collections, including Capitale de la douleur (1926) and La rose publique (1934). With André Breton, Éluard coauthored the seminal surrealist work L’immaculeé conception (1930). He also published short collections in which his poetry is accompanied by the visual art of surrealist artists such as Max Ernst, Joan Miró, and Pablo Picasso. In addition, he wrote essays and produced anthologies and translations. Along with André Breton, Phillipe Soupault, and Louis Aragon, he developed the surrealist movement as it grew out of Dadaism and remained steadfast in his commitment to it until 1938, when he left the movement. A veteran of World War I, during the 1920s and 1930s he became a committed Communist and anti-fascist. In 1942, the Royal Air Force dropped thousands of leaflets of his poem “Liberté” (originally titled “Une seule pensée”) over occupied France. He became a hero of the Resistance. After the war, he embraced the cause of peace. He died of a heart attack in 1952. His funeral was sponsored by the French Communist Party and was attended by thousands of mourners. He’s buried in Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.