Louis Aragon

French poet

Born: October 3, 1897 · Died: December 24, 1982

Famous Persons

Who was Louis Aragon?

Louis Aragon (French: [lwi aʁaɡɔ̃] ; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, believing them to be his sister and foster mother, respectively. His biological father, Louis Andrieux, a former senator for Forcalquier, was married and thirty years older than Aragon's mother, whom he seduced when she was seventeen. Aragon's mother passed Andrieux off to her son as his godfather. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review Littérature. He was also a novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt. Andrieux's refusal or inability to recognize his son would influence Aragon's poetry later on.

Portrait of Louis Aragon by Man Ray, half-tone print.

Historical significance

After 1959, he was a frequent nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Aragon was only told the truth at the age of 19, as he was leaving to serve in the First World War, from which neither he nor his parents believed he would return.

Sources and further reading

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MLA

“Louis Aragon.” thisDay, thisday.info/people/louis-aragon/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

APA

Louis Aragon. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 3, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/louis-aragon/

Chicago

“Louis Aragon.” thisDay. Accessed October 3, 2026. https://thisday.info/people/louis-aragon/.

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