Poet, writer, and public figure. Born in 1913 in Martinique. Graduated from the Lycée in Fort-de-France. In 1931, he moved to Paris. During his student years, he published the journal L'Étudiant noir (The Black Student), which played an important role in the formation of the négritude movement. In 1935, he entered the École Normale, where in the 1940s he became close to the circle of surrealists and, in particular, André Breton. Césaire's debut book, the poem Cahier d'un retour au pays natal (Notebook of a Return to the Native Land, 1936–1939), became a programmatic text of négritude and an important anti-colonial work — it continues to be regularly reprinted to this day. In 1941–1943, he published the journal Tropiques (Tropics), which was closed down by censors. In 1945, Césaire was elected mayor of Fort-de-France and served in this position until 2001. During his lifetime, his complete works were published in three volumes. He died in 2008.