Maxime Alexandre

Maxime Moses Alexandre (1899–1976) was a French poet associated with Surrealism.

Life Maxime Alexandre was born into a liberal Jewish family in Wolfisheim. There his first language was German, although his family moved to Lausanne during World War I. There he learnt French, and was introduced to Romain Rolland by René Schickelé.

Alexandre was active in the surrealist movement from its inception in 1924 until 1929, when he followed Louis Aragon out of the group. He contributed to both La Révolution surréaliste and Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution. A Communist, he also worked for the French Communist Party newspaper L'Humanité. He was imprisoned when World War II started.

In 1949 Alexandre converted to Roman Catholicism, though he later left the church in reaction to what he felt was the church's anti-Semitism.

Works Les dessins de la liberté. 1927 Le Corsage, 1931 Mythologie personnelle, 1933 Le Mal de nuit, 1935 Sujet a l'amour, 1937 Cassandre de Bourgogne, 1939 Les yeux pour pleurer, 1945 Le Juif errant, 1946 Durst und Quelle, 1952 La Peau et les os, 1956 L'enfant de la terre, 1965. With illustrations by Jean Arp. Mémoires d'un surréaliste, 1968 L'oiseau de papier, 1973. With illustrations by Jean Arp. Journal 1951–1975, 1976