Edouard Roditi
Poet, art critic, translator, and editor are just a few words that could be used to describe Edouard Roditi (1910–1992). Born in Paris in 1910 to American parents, Roditi was educated in England and began writing and translating at a very young age. He was seventeen when his first poem was published and his poems were experimental and rich with imagery. Roditi’s poetry often confronted anti-semitism and included Judaic themes. In Paris Roditi was closely associated with the surrealist movement and created the first English translation of Andre Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto. Roditi was an art critic for the French journal L’Arche for 30 years and was well-known for his interviews with modernist artists such as Marc Chagall, Hannah Höch, and Joan Miró. He lived most of his life in Paris but also spent some time in the US and served for the US government as a translator during the Nuremberg war crimes trials. During the Red Scare Roditi was accused of being a communist and was later fired for being homosexual. Roditi spoke seven languages and during his lifetime he was the author or editor of over 25 volumes of poetry, fiction, and criticism.