Writer, politician. One of the founders of the "Negritude" movement. Educated initially in Fort-de-France, his ability as a writer got him a scholarship to Paris, where he went in 1931. There, in 1934, he and two other students began publishing a magazine, L'Etudiant Noir (The Black Student), which promoted African and black consciousness and spoke against a particular French political force of the time, assimilationism. In 1939, he wrote and published his influential poem Cahier d'un retour au pays natal, in which he first used the word negrituded. About the same time, he and his wife moved back to Martinique, where he taught and edited Tropiques. In 1947, he helped found another magazine, Présence Africaine, published in Paris. He published three books of poetry and several plays. In 1945, he was elected mayor of Fort-de-France, serving almost continuously until 2001. He also served in the French National assembly, 1946–1956 and 1958–1993. He was important in the creation of the overseas departments (essentially states) into France. He taught and influenced a number of other important Martinican political and cultural writers and thinkers. Past French president Nicolas Sarkozy called him a great poet and humanist in a statement on his death.
Writer, politician. One of the founders of the "Negritude" movement. Educated initially in Fort-de-France, his ability as a writer got him a scholarship to Paris, where he went in 1931. There, in 1934, he and two other students began publishing a magazine, L'Etudiant Noir (The Black Student), which promoted African and black consciousness and spoke against a particular French political force of the time, assimilationism. In 1939, he wrote and published his influential poem Cahier d'un retour au pays natal, in which he first used the word negrituded. About the same time, he and his wife moved back to Martinique, where he taught and edited Tropiques. In 1947, he helped found another magazine, Présence Africaine, published in Paris. He published three books of poetry and several plays. In 1945, he was elected mayor of Fort-de-France, serving almost continuously until 2001. He also served in the French National assembly, 1946–1956 and 1958–1993. He was important in the creation of the overseas departments (essentially states) into France. He taught and influenced a number of other important Martinican political and cultural writers and thinkers. Past French president Nicolas Sarkozy called him a great poet and humanist in a statement on his death.
Bio by: Chris West
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La pression atmosphérique ou plutôt l'historique
Agrandit démesurément mes maux
Même si elle rend somptueux certains de mes mots.
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