French surrealist poet Alain Jouffroy dies aged 87

French surrealist poet Alain Jouffroy, who “revolted against the absence of revolt”, has died, his wife said Monday.

He died on Sunday, Fusako Hasae told AFP. Jouffroy was 87.

Also a novelist, essayist and art critic, Jouffroy won France’s prestigious Goncourt prize for poetry in 2007.

Born in Paris in 1928, he was a major figure in French intellectual life in the latter part of the 20th century.

He was tied to the surrealist art movement and was friends with painters such as Victor Brauner and Roberto Matta.

Always avant-garde, Jouffroy became a mentor to many young artists in the early 1960s producing Pop Art and Beat Art.

From the 1970s Jouffroy developed a passion for Asian art and literature, especially Japanese. From 1983 to 1985 he was the French embassy’s cultural attache in Tokyo.

He published some 120 works including monographs and essays on artists such as Miro, Max Ernst, and Franco Gentilini.