Clément Pansaers

Clément Pansaers (1885–1922) turned to poetry after abandoning his career as an Egyptologist. He was the primary representative of Dada in Belgium as well as the first to declare the death of the movement (and proclaim himself its killer). He was ensconced in an international literary and artistic community that extended from Belgium to France and Germany. With friends who ranged from Francis Picabia to James Joyce, Pansaers produced a body of poetic work that earned the admiration of everyone from Ezra Pound to Tristan Tzara. His early death from Hodgkin’s disease, however, contributed to him and his work being forgotten for half a century until its rediscovery. His poetry is now recognized as some of the most radical of the Dada movement.