Valançay, Robert

Biographical/Historical Note

Robert Valançay, born in 1903, was a poet, translator and literary critic who worked with and admired many of the artists and poets of the surrealist group. His literary achievements are all the more remarkable as he held a "day job" with Shell, translating as well as making documentary films for the company for many years.

In the thirties, he seems to have published at least two volumes of poetry Flot et jusant and Oiseau nitre ; another collection, Mots deserre-freins which assembled many of the early poems, appeared in 1972. However, Valançay seems to have been most appreciated and sought after for his translations. Indeed, he was considered the official translator of Max Ernst and Hans Arp.

From the guide to the Robert Valançay correspondence, 1921-1978, (Getty Research Institute)