1887-1975. French poet and diplomat, a US
citizen from 1940. His first book of verse,
Eloges 1911, reflects the ambience of the
West Indies, where he was born and raised.
His later works include Anabase 1924, an epic
poem translated by T S Eliot in 1930. Nobel
prize 1960. Entering the foreign service in
1914, he was secretary-general 1933-40. He
then emigrated permanently to the USA, and
was deprived of French citizenship by the
Vichy government.