Tristan Tzara

Born Samuel Rosenstock in Moineşti, Romania, Tristan Tzara moved to Bucharest as a child. He published his first poems in 1912 in the journal Simbolul, which he founded with several friends while in school. The journal sought to import French Symbolist techniques into the Romanian literary landscape, and while short lived, it made a lasting impact on Romanian literature. Tzara left Romania during World War I, eventually moving to Paris after living for a time in Switzerland. While in Zurich, he participated in founding the Dada movement, which celebrated nonsense and irrationality in art as a response to the depravity and absurdity of World War I. By the time he settled in France, Tzara had begun writing in French, and he composed several of the foundational texts of Dada in that language, including Sept Manifestes Dada (1924). Later in his career, Tzara turned to surrealism, which he sought to imbue with his Marxist political views. In 1936, he became a member of the Communist Party, and during World War II, he participated in the French Resistance. Tzara died in Paris.