orig. Guillelmus (or Wilhelm) Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky
born Aug. 26, 1880, Rome?, Italy
died Nov. 9, 1918, Paris, Fr.
French poet of Polish-Italian birth.
Arriving in Paris at age 20, Apollinaire always kept his early years obscure. In his short life he took part in all the avant-garde movements that flourished at the beginning of the 20th century. His poetry was characterized by daring, even outrageous, technical experiments. Because of his efforts to create an effect of surprise by means of unusual verbal associations and word patterns, he is often considered the herald of Surrealism . His poetic masterpiece was Alcools (1913). His death resulted from a head wound received in World War I.
Apollinaire, drawing by Pablo Picasso from the frontispiece to Calligrammes , 1918
H. Roger-Viollet