Roger Vitrac

French surrealist playwright and poet
Roger Vitrac (vitʁak; 17 November 1899 – 22 January 1952) was a French surrealist playwright and poet.

Roger Vitrac was born in Pinsac on 17 November 1899, before his family moved to Paris in 1910.:527 As a young man, he was influenced by the period's theatre and poetry, in particular the works of Lautréamont and Alfred Jarry. :265

In 1919 he published his first collection of poems, Le Faune noir. In 1920 he began his obligatory three year military service. :358 He also 'presented a play in Dadaistic character' entitled La Fenêtre Vorace, which has since been lost. He was expelled from the movement in 1925 for his pursuit of the theatre, among other infractions.

Vitrac joined Georges Bataille as one of the signatories of Un Cadavre against Breton and contributed to Documents with articles on "Gaston Louis Roux" (1929, issue 7), "The Abduction of the Sabines" (1930, issue 6) and a poem, "Humorage to Picasso" (1930, issue 3), dedicated to the artist. From 1931, he worked as a journalist while further exploring burlesque style playwriting, which often operated between boulevard comedy and intimate tragedy. His multi thematic Coup de Trafalgar (1934) and Les Demoiselles du large (1938) gained as little recognition as his more slapstick plays such as Le Loup Garou (1939) and Le Sabre de mon père (1951). In January 1937, Vitrac become Secretary General of the newly established Confédération des Syndicats Professionels Française (CSPF), a workers' union that claimed to be 'purely professional' and 'free of any political affiliation. ':212 213

Vitrac died in Paris on 22 January 1952.:94