Gabriel Pomerand (1926–1972)

Gabriel Pomerand was born in Paris, France, and moved to Alsace at a young age. During World War II, his mother was deported to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. In 1945, after having spent his teenage years on the run and working in the Resistance, he returned to Paris. Here he met Romanian-born Isidore Isou, with whom he founded the Lettrist movement. Pomerand published 12 books of poetry and prose, including Saint Ghetto des Prêts ("Saint Ghetto of the Loans," 1950), now considered an avant-garde classic. He was the spokesperson of the movement in its first years and organized scandalous public lectures. His oil paintings appeared in several important Lettrism exhibitions. He also wrote one of the first three Lettrist symphonies. the Symphony in K (1946). After 1952, he moved away from the group, but his texts were read with those of Isou, Maurice Lemaître, François Dufrêne, and others during Lettrist poetry recitals. He ended his own life in 1972.