Tristan Tzara

Born as Samuel Rosenstock in Moinesti, Romania in 1896, died in Paris in 1963. Poet and essayist, known as one of the founders of Dada.

Tristan Tzara came from Paris to Zurich in 1914 and enrolled at the local university in order to study maths. After the foundation of the Cabaret Voltaire, he became the driving force behind Dadaism.

First he performed French verses by Verlaine, Apollinaire and Mallarmé, later also his own poems in German or French. Moreover he used to improvise poems on stage. In that time he wrote the first Dada texts as well as the manifestos of the movement.

At the beginning of 1920 Tzara left Zurich and settled in Paris again. In the following years he joined activities of Surrealism and was in favor of the reconciliation of Surrealism and Marxism. In 1937 he joined the French Communist Party and stayed a member until 1956.

In contrast to his works of Dada, his later works reflect maturity in the difficult language, as well as the theme of the tragedy of the human condition.

Works:

The First Heavenly Adventure of Mr. Antipyrine (1916)

Twenty-Five Poems (1918)

Seven Dada Manifestos (1924)

The Approximate Man (1931)

Speaking Alone (1950)

The Inner Face (1953)

Sources:

"Tristan Tzara - Biography, DADAism & Poetry". The Art History Archive. http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/dada/Tristan-Tzara.html

"Tristan Tzara". Zentralbibliothek Zürich - Virtuelle Ausstellungen. http://www.zb.uzh.ch/ausstellungen/exponat/007979/