Yves Bonnefoy (1923) was born in Tours. He studied mathematics and philosophy, and attended the art history seminars of André Chastel at École Pratique des Hautes Études. His career as a writer began in 1946, taking hold with the 1953 publication of his first book by Mercure de France – his publishers to this day – Du mouvement et de l ’immobilité de Douve (On the Motion and Immobility of Douve). All along, Bonnefoy has pursued his triple career as poet, literary scholar and art historian with equal energy and commitment. Visiting professor at a number of universities, he taught in France, Switzerland and the United States, before being
elected Chair of Comparative Studies of the Poetic Function at the Collége de France in 1981 (where Paul Valéry and Roland Barthes were among his predecessors). He has held the post of Professor Emeritus there since 1993. His poems have appeared in the popular pocket (poche) editions too. – Bonnefoy has been published in two Hungarian collections: Még egyre az a hang (Budapest, Európa, 1973; trans. György Tímár) and Kép és jelenlét: Yves Bonnefoy válogatott írásai (Budapest, Argumentum, 2007).