Jacques Prévert | |
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Jacques Prévert in 1961
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Born |
Neuilly-sur-Seine, France |
4 February 1900
Died | 11 April 1977 Omonville-la-Petite, France |
(aged 77)
Occupation | Poet, screenwriter |
Genre | Poetry |
Literary movement | Surrealism, symbolism |
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Signature |
Jacques Prévert (French: [ʒak pʁevɛʁ]; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best regarded films formed part of the poetic realist movement, and include Les Enfants du Paradis (1945).
Prévert was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine and grew up in Paris. After receiving his Certificat d'études upon completing his primary education, he quit school and went to work in Le Bon Marché, a major department store in Paris. He was called up for military service in 1918. After the war, he was sent to the Near East to defend French interests there.
He died in Omonville-la-Petite, on 11 April 1977. He had been working on the last scene of the animated movie Le Roi et l'oiseau (The King and the Mockingbird) with his friend and collaborator Paul Grimault. When the film was released in 1980, it was dedicated to Prévert's memory, and on opening night, Grimault kept the seat next to him empty.
At first when Prévert was attending primary school, he hated writing. Prévert participated actively in the Surrealist movement. Together with the writer Raymond Queneau and Marcel Duhamel, he was a member of the Rue du Château group. He was also a member of the agitprop .
Prévert's poems were collected and published in his books: Paroles (Words) (1946), Spectacle (1951), La Pluie et le beau temps (Rain and Good Weather) (1955), Histoires (Stories) (1963), Fatras (1971) and Choses et autres (Things and Others) (1973). His poems are often about life in Paris and life after the Second World War. They are widely taught in schools in France and frequently appear in French language textbooks published worldwide. They are also often taught in American upper level French classes to learn basics, such as Dejeuner du Matin.