André Breton was born on February 18, 1896 in Tinchebray (Orne). His ancestors were from Brittany and Lorraine, and his first years were spent in the care of his maternal grandfather in Saint-Brieuc. When he was four years old, his family went to live in Pantin. In 1906, he was admitted to secondary school at the Collège Chaptal, and in 1913, at the age of seventeen, he began studying medicine. The following year, three of his poems, including a sonnet dedicated to Paul Valéry, were published in Jean Royère's La Phalange.

In 1915, Breton was drafted into an artillery unit. After a stint in Pontivy, he was sent to Nantes where he worked in the neurological ward. He began a correspondence...