Jean Cassou

His father, who had the prestigious degree Ingénieur des Arts et Manufactures, died when Jean was only sixteen.

He was Secretary to Pierre Louÿs, writing from 1921 to 1929 his monthly chronicle "Spanish Letters" in the cultural magazine Le Mercure de France (of which he was editor).

He was then in favour of the Spanish Republic and socialism, and approached the communist party – but broke with then in 1939 at the time of the Germano-Soviet pact.

With Claude Aveline, Agnès Humbert, Simone Martin-Chauffier and Marcel Abraham, he drafted the group's periodical called Résistance (six numbers between December 1940 and March 1941).

In August, at the time of the liberation of the town, his car met an armed German patrol: two of his companions were killed and he was left for dead.

Composer Henri Dutilleux set four of his poems to music between 1944 and 1956 (La Geôle, Il n'y avait que des troncs déchirés, J'ai rêvé que je vous portais entre mes bras, Eloignez-vous).