Gisèle Prassinos

Who is Gisèle Prassinos?

Gisèle Prassinos is a French writer of Greek heritage, associated with the surrealist movement.

She was born in Istanbul, Turkey and emigrated to France with her family at the age of two, where they lived initially in Nanterre. Her brother Mario Prassinos is a noted artist and designer.

Her writing was discovered by André Breton in 1934, when she was just fourteen, and published in the French surrealist magazine Minotaure and the Belgian periodical Documents 34. Her first book, La Sauterelle arthritique was published in 1935 with a preface by Paul Éluard and a photograph by Man Ray.

Marianne van Hirtum observed that the surrealists of the time recognised these early writings as a "veritable illustration of automatic language par excellence".

After World War II Prassinos's association with organised surrealism was limited, but she has continued to publish widely.