André Robert Breton (18 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer, poet and anti-fascist. He is known best as the co-founder, leader, principal theorist and chief apologist of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto (Manifeste du surréalisme) of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism". Affiliations: Louis Aragon, Paul Éluard, René Crevel, Michel Leiris, Benjamin Péret, Antonin Artaud and Robert Desnos. Salvador Dalí. Arthur Rimbaud. Karl Marx. Leon Trotsky. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Philippe Pétain. Aimé Césaire. Georges Pompidou. Joan Miró. Hector Hyppolite.