Editing Tristan Tzara (section)

==Biography==
===Early life and ''Simbolul'' years===
Tzara was born in [[Moinești]], [[Bacău County]], in the [[Historical regions of Romania|historical region]] of [[Western Moldavia]]. His parents were [[History of the Jews in Romania|Jewish Romanians]] who reportedly spoke [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]] as their first language;<ref>Cernat, pg. 35</ref> his father Filip and grandfather Ilie were entrepreneurs in the forestry business.<ref name="iliv241">Livezeanu, pg. 241</ref><ref name="vmttcl">{{in lang|ro}} Victor Macarie, [http://convorbiri-literare.dntis.ro/MACARIEnov4.html "Inedit: Tristan Tzara"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309001230/http://convorbiri-literare.dntis.ro/MACARIEnov4.html |date=9 March 2009 }}, in ''[[Convorbiri Literare]]'', November 2004.</ref> Tzara's mother was Emilia Rosenstock ({{nee}} Zibalis).<ref name="vmttcl"/> Owing to the [[Kingdom of Romania|Romanian Kingdom]]'s discrimination laws, the Rosenstocks were not [[Jewish Emancipation|emancipated]], and thus Tzara was not a full citizen of the country until after 1918.<ref name="iliv241"/>

He moved to [[Bucharest]] at the age of eleven, and attended the Schemitz-Tierin [[boarding school]].<ref name="iliv241"/> It is believed that the young Tzara completed his secondary education at a state-run high school, which is identified as the [[Saint Sava National College]]<ref name="iliv241"/> or as the Sfântul Gheorghe High School.<ref>Cernat, pp. 48-51</ref> In October 1912, when Tzara was aged sixteen, he joined his friends Vinea and Marcel Janco in editing ''[[Simbolul]]''. Reputedly, Janco and Vinea provided the funds.<ref name="pcern99">Cernat, pg. 99</ref> Like Vinea, Tzara was also close to their young colleague [[Jacques G. Costin]], who was later his self-declared promoter and admirer.<ref>Cernat, pp. 186-194</ref>

Despite their young age, the three editors were able to attract collaborations from established [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolist]] authors, active within [[Symbolist movement in Romania|Romania's own Symbolist movement]]. Alongside their close friend and mentor [[Adrian Maniu]] (an [[Imagism|Imagist]] who had been Vinea's tutor),<ref>Cernat, pg. 51</ref> they included [[N. Davidescu]], [[Alfred Hefter|Alfred Hefter-Hidalgo]], [[Emil Isac]], [[Claudia Millian]], [[Ion Minulescu]], [[I. M. Rașcu]], [[Eugeniu Sperantia]], [[Al. T. Stamatiad]], [[Eugeniu Ștefănescu-Est]], and [[Constantin T. Stoika]], as well as journalist and lawyer [[Poldi Chapier]].<ref name="pcern49">Cernat, pg. 49</ref> In its inaugural issue, the journal even printed a poem by one of the leading figures in Romanian Symbolism, [[Alexandru Macedonski]].<ref name="pcern49"/> ''Simbolul'' also featured illustrations by Maniu, Millian and [[Iosif Iser]].<ref>Cernat, pp. 50, 100.</ref>
[[File:Tzara, Maxy, Vinea, Costin (1915).jpg|thumb|300px|The ''[[Chemarea]]'' circle in 1915. From left: Tzara, [[M. H. Maxy]], [[Ion Vinea]], and [[Jacques G. Costin]]]]
Although the magazine ceased print in December 1912, it played an important part in shaping [[Literature of Romania|Romanian literature]] of the period. Literary historian [[Paul Cernat]] sees ''Simbolul'' as a main stage in Romania's [[modernism]], and credits it with having brought about the first changes from Symbolism to the radical avant-garde.<ref>Cernat, pp. 49-54, 397–398, 412</ref> Also according to Cernat, the collaboration between Samyro, Vinea and Janco was an early instance of literature becoming "an interface between arts", which had for its contemporary equivalent the collaboration between Iser and writers such as [[Ion Minulescu]] and [[Tudor Arghezi]].<ref>Cernat, pg. 47</ref> Although Maniu parted with the group and sought a change in style which brought him closer to traditionalist tenets, Tzara, Janco and Vinea continued their collaboration. Between 1913 and 1915, they were frequently vacationing together, either on the [[Black Sea]] coast or at the Rosenstock family property in [[Gârceni]], [[Vaslui County]]; during this time, Vinea and Samyro wrote poems with similar themes and alluding to one another.<ref>Cernat, pp. 116-121.</ref>

===''Chemarea'' and 1915 departure===
Tzara's career changed course between 1914 and 1916, during a period when the [[Kingdom of Romania|Romanian Kingdom]] kept out of [[World War I]]. In autumn 1915, as founder and editor of the short-lived journal ''Chemarea'', Vinea published two poems by his friend, the first printed works to bear the signature ''Tristan Tzara''.<ref>Cernat, pp. 97, 106, 108–109</ref> At the time, the young poet and many of his friends were adherents of an [[anti-war]] and anti-[[Nationalism|nationalist]] current, which progressively accommodated [[anti-establishment]] messages.<ref>Cernat, pp. 99–108.</ref> ''Chemarea'', which was a platform for this agenda and again attracted collaborations from Chapier, may also have been financed by Tzara and Vinea.<ref name="pcern99"/> According to Romanian avant-garde writer [[Claude Sernet]], the journal was "totally different from everything that had been printed in Romania before that moment."<ref>Cernat, pg. 100</ref> During the period, Tzara's works were sporadically published in Hefter-Hidalgo's ''[[Versuri și Proză]]'', and, in June 1915, [[Constantin Rădulescu-Motru]]'s ''Noua Revistă Română'' published Samyro's known poem ''Verișoară, fată de pension'' ("Little Cousin, Boarding School Girl").<ref name="Cernat, p.108-109"/>

Tzara had enrolled at the [[University of Bucharest]] in 1914, studying mathematics and philosophy, but did not graduate.<ref name="iliv241"/><ref name="ttunifi">{{in lang|it}} [http://www.unifi.it/letrum/CMpro-v-p-1020.html "Tristan Tzara"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605084429/http://www.unifi.it/letrum/CMpro-v-p-1020.html |date=5 June 2011 }}, biographical note in [http://www.unifi.it/letrum/ ''Cronologia della letteratura rumena moderna (1780–1914)'' database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018010504/https://www.clrm.unifi.it/ |date=18 October 2021 }}, at the [[University of Florence]]'s Department of Neo-Latin Languages and Literatures; retrieved 23 April 2008.</ref> In autumn 1915, he left Romania for Zürich, in neutral Switzerland. Janco, together with his brother Jules Janco, had settled there a few months before, and was later joined by his other brother, Georges Janco.<ref>Cernat, pp. 110-111</ref> Tzara, who may have applied to the Faculty of Philosophy at the [[University of Zurich|local university]],<ref name="iliv241"/><ref name="mrdada">Marta Ragozzino, "Tristan Tzara", in ''Art e Dossier'', March 1994, Giunti, pg. 48</ref> shared lodging with Marcel Janco, who was a student at the ''[[ETH Zurich|Technische Hochschule]]'', in the Altinger Guest House<ref>Cernat, pg. 111</ref> (by 1918, Tzara had moved to the Limmatquai Hotel).<ref>Richter, pg. 137</ref> His departure from Romania, like that of the Janco brothers, may have been in part a [[Pacifism|pacifist]] political statement.<ref>Cernat, pg. 132; Livezeanu, pp. 241, 249.</ref> After settling in Switzerland, the young poet almost completely discarded Romanian as his language of expression, writing most of his subsequent works in French.<ref name="ttunifi"/><ref>Răileanu & Carassou, pg. 13</ref> The poems he had written before, which were the result of poetic dialogues between him and his friend, were left in Vinea's care.<ref name="pcern116">Cernat, pg. 116</ref> Most of these pieces were first printed only in the [[interwar period]].<ref name="ttunifi"/><ref>Cernat, pp. 116, 130, 138, 153</ref>

It was in Zürich that the Romanian group met with the [[German Empire|German]] [[Hugo Ball]], an [[Anarchism|anarchist]] poet and pianist, and his young wife [[Emmy Hennings]], a [[music hall]] performer. In February 1916, Ball had rented the [[Cabaret Voltaire (Zürich)|Cabaret Voltaire]] from its owner, Jan Ephraim, and intended to use the venue for [[performance art]] and exhibits.<ref>Cernat, pp. 110-111; Hofman, pg. 2; Richter, pp. 12-14.</ref> Hugo Ball recorded this period, noting that Tzara and Marcel Janco, like [[Hans Arp]], [[Arthur Segal (painter)|Arthur Segal]], [[Otto van Rees]], and [[Max Oppenheimer]] "readily agreed to take part in the cabaret".<ref name="Cernat, p.111; Richter, p.14">Cernat, pg. 111; Richter, pg. 14</ref> According to Ball, among the performances of songs mimicking or taking inspiration from various national [[folklore]]s, "Herr Tristan Tzara recited Rumanian poetry<!-- sic -->."<ref>Cernat, pg.111; Gendron, pg. 73; Richter, pg. 14</ref> In late March, Ball recounted, the group was joined by German writer and drummer [[Richard Huelsenbeck]].<ref name="Cernat, p.111; Richter, p.14"/> He was soon after involved in Tzara's "simultaneist verse" performance, "the first in Zürich and in the world", also including renditions of poems by two promoters of [[Cubism]], [[Fernand Divoire]] and [[Henri Barzun]].<ref>Cernat, pg. 111; Richter, pg. 14, 28–30.</ref>

===Birth of Dada===
[[File:Placa en Cabaret Voltaire retouched.jpg|thumb|260px|[[Cabaret Voltaire (Zürich)|Cabaret Voltaire]] plaque commemorating the birth of Dada]]
It was in this milieu that [[Dada]] was born, at some point before May 1916, when a publication of the same name first saw print. The story of its establishment was the subject of a disagreement between Tzara and his fellow writers. Cernat believes that the first Dadaist performance took place as early as February, when the nineteen-year-old Tzara, wearing a [[monocle]], entered the Cabaret Voltaire stage singing sentimental melodies and handing paper wads to his "scandalized spectators", leaving the stage to allow room for masked actors on [[stilts]], and returning in clown attire.<ref name="pcern112">Cernat, pg. 112</ref> The same type of performances took place at the [[Zünfte of Zürich|Zunfthaus zur Waag]] beginning in summer 1916, after the Cabaret Voltaire was forced to close down.<ref>Cernat, pg. 115; Gendron, pp. 73-75; Hofman, pg. 3; Richter, pp. 39, 41–44, 48.</ref>

According to music historian Bernard Gendron, for as long as it lasted, "the Cabaret Voltaire was dada. There was no alternative institution or site that could disentangle 'pure' dada from its mere accompaniment [...] nor was any such site desired."<ref>Gendron, pg. 75.</ref> Other opinions link Dada's beginnings with much earlier events, including the experiments of [[Alfred Jarry]], [[André Gide]], [[Christian Morgenstern]], [[Jean-Pierre Brisset]], [[Guillaume Apollinaire]], [[Jacques Vaché]], [[Marcel Duchamp]], and [[Francis Picabia]].<ref>Richter, pp 11, 71–72, 81–100, 168–173.</ref>

In the first of the movement's manifestos, Ball wrote: ''"[The booklet] is intended to present to the Public the activities and interests of the Cabaret Voltaire, which has as its sole purpose to draw attention, across the barriers of war and nationalism, to the few independent spirits who live for other ideals. The next objective of the artists who are assembled here is to publish a ''revue internationale'' [French for 'international magazine']."''<ref name="hrich14">Richter, pg. 14</ref> Ball completed his message in French, and the paragraph translates as: "The magazine shall be published in Zürich and shall carry the name 'Dada' ('Dada'). Dada Dada Dada Dada."<ref name="hrich14"/> The view according to which Ball had created the movement was notably supported by writer [[Walter Serner]], who directly accused Tzara of having abused Ball's initiative.<ref name="hrich123">Richter, pg. 123</ref>

A secondary point of contention between the founders of Dada regarded the paternity for the movement's name, which, according to visual artist and essayist [[Hans Richter (artist)|Hans Richter]], was first adopted in print in June 1916.<ref name="hrich32">Richter, pg. 32</ref> Ball, who claimed authorship and stated that he picked the word randomly from a dictionary, indicated that it stood for both the French-language equivalent of "[[Hobby horse (toy)|hobby horse]]" and a [[German language|German-language]] term reflecting the joy of children being rocked to sleep.<ref>Cernat, pp. 115-116; Richter, pp. 31-32.</ref> Tzara himself declined interest in the matter, but Marcel Janco credited him with having coined the term.<ref>Cernat, pp. 115-116.</ref> Dada manifestos, written or co-authored by Tzara, record that the name shares its form with various other terms, including a word used in the [[Kru languages]] of [[West Africa]] to designate the tail of a sacred cow; a toy and the name for "mother" in an unspecified [[Regional Italian|Italian dialect]]; and the double affirmative in Romanian and in various [[Slavic languages]].<ref>Cernat, pg. 116; Londré, pg. 397; Richter, pp. 31-32.</ref>

===Dadaist promoter===
Before the end of the war, Tzara had assumed a position as Dada's main promoter and manager, helping the Swiss group establish branches in other European countries.<ref name="mrdada"/><ref>Cardinal, p.529; Hofman, pp. 3-4; Cernat, pg. 115; Livezeanu, pp. 249-251; Londré, pg. 396; Richter, pg. 33</ref> This period also saw the first conflict within the group: citing irreconcilable differences with Tzara, Ball left the group.<ref>Cernat, pg. 115; Richter, pp. 43, 59.</ref> With his departure, Gendron argues, Tzara was able to move Dada [[vaudeville]]-like performances into more of "an incendiary and yet jocularly provocative theater."<ref name="bgend77">Gendron, pg. 77</ref>

He is often credited with having inspired many young modernist authors from outside Switzerland to affiliate with the group, in particular the Frenchmen [[Louis Aragon]], [[André Breton]], [[Paul Éluard]], [[Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes]] and [[Philippe Soupault]].<ref name="jycmelusine"/><ref name="hrich33">Richter, pg. 33</ref> Richter, who also came into contact with Dada at this stage in its history, notes that these intellectuals often had a "very cool and distant attitude to this new movement" before being approached by the Romanian author.<ref name="hrich33"/> In June 1916, he began editing and managing the periodical ''Dada'' as a successor of the short-lived magazine ''Cabaret Voltaire''—Richter describes his "energy, passion and talent for the job", which he claims satisfied all Dadaists.<ref>Hofman, pg. 4; Richter, pg. 33</ref> He was at the time the lover of [[Maja Kruscek]], who was a student of [[Rudolf Laban]]; in Richter's account, their relationship was always tottering.<ref>Richter, pp. 45, 69–70.</ref>

As early as 1916, Tristan Tzara took distance from the Italian [[Futurism|Futurists]], rejecting the [[Militarism|militarist]] and proto-[[Italian fascism|fascist]] stance of their leader [[Filippo Tommaso Marinetti]].<ref>Cernat, pg. 193</ref> Richter notes that, by then, Dada had replaced Futurism as the leader of modernism, while continuing to build on its influence: "we had swallowed Futurism—bones, feathers and all. It is true that in the process of digestion all sorts of bones and feathers had been regurgitated."<ref name="hrich33"/> Despite this and the fact that Dada did not make any gains in Italy, Tzara could count poets [[Giuseppe Ungaretti]] and [[Alberto Savinio]], painters [[Gino Cantarelli]] and [[Aldo Fiozzi]], as well as a few other Italian Futurists, among the Dadaists.<ref>Richter, pp. 199, 201 (Haftmann, in Richter, pg. 217)</ref> Among the Italian authors supporting Dadaist manifestos and rallying with the Dada group was the poet, painter and in the future a [[Traditionalism (perennialism)|traditionalist]] theorist [[Julius Evola]], who became a personal friend of Tzara.<ref name="buddevo">S. Batchelor, "Existence, Enlightenment and Suicide: The Dilemma of Nanavira Thera", in Tadeusz Skorupski (ed.), ''The Buddhist Forum'', Vol. IV (Seminar Papers 1994–1996), [[Routledge]], London, 1996, pp. 11-13; {{ISBN|0-7286-0255-5}}</ref>

The next year, Tzara and Ball opened the ''Galerie Dada'' permanent exhibit, through which they set contacts with the independent Italian visual artist [[Giorgio de Chirico]] and with the German [[Expressionism|Expressionist]] journal ''[[Der Sturm]]'', all of whom were described as "fathers of Dada".<ref>Richter, pp. 39-40, 46.</ref> During the same months, and probably owing to Tzara's intervention, the Dada group organized a performance of ''Sphinx and Strawman'', a puppet play by the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] Expressionist [[Oskar Kokoschka]], whom he advertised as an example of "Dada theater".<ref>Grigorescu, pp. 173-174.</ref> He was also in touch with ''[[Nord-Sud]]'', the magazine of French poet [[Pierre Reverdy]] (who sought to unify all avant-garde trends),<ref name="jycmelusine"/> and contributed articles on [[African art]] to both ''Nord-Sud'' and [[Pierre Albert-Birot]]'s ''SIC'' magazine.<ref name="hrich167">Richter, pg. 167</ref> In early 1918, through Huelsenbeck, Zürich Dadaists established contacts with their more explicitly [[left-wing]] disciples in the German Empire — [[George Grosz]], [[John Heartfield]], [[Johannes Baader]], [[Kurt Schwitters]], [[Walter Mehring]], [[Raoul Hausmann]], [[Carl Einstein]], [[Franz Jung]], and Heartfield's brother [[Wieland Herzfelde]].<ref>Hofman, pp. 7-8; Richter, pp. 102-114.</ref> With Breton, Soupault and Aragon, Tzara traveled [[Cologne]], where he became familiarized with the elaborate [[collage]] works of Schwitters and [[Max Ernst]], which he showed to his colleagues in Switzerland.<ref>Richter, pp. 137, 155, 159.</ref> Huelsenbeck nonetheless declined to Schwitters membership in Berlin Dada.<ref>Londré, pg. 397; Richter, pp. 137-138.</ref>

As a result of his campaigning, Tzara created a list of so-called "Dada presidents", who represented various regions of Europe. According to Hans Richter, it included, alongside Tzara, figures ranging from Ernst, Arp, Baader, Breton and Aragon to Kruscek, Evola, [[Rafael Lasso de la Vega]], [[Igor Stravinsky]], [[Vicente Huidobro]], [[Francesco Meriano]] and [[Théodore Fraenkel]].<ref>Richter, pg. 201</ref> Richter notes: "I'm not sure if all the names who appear here would agree with the description."<ref>Richter, pp. 200-201.</ref>

===End of World War I===
The shows Tzara staged in Zürich often turned into scandals or riots, and he was in permanent conflict with the [[Law enforcement in Switzerland|Swiss law enforcers]].<ref>Cernat, pg. 115; Richter, pp. 16, 19, 39.</ref> Hans Richter speaks of a "pleasure of letting fly at the [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]], which in Tristan Tzara took the form of coldly (or hotly) calculated insolence" (''see [[Épater la bourgeoisie]]'').<ref>Richter, pg. 24</ref> In one instance, as part of a series of events in which Dadaists mocked established authors, Tzara and Arp falsely publicized that they were going to fight a [[duel]] in Rehalp, near Zürich, and that they were going to have the popular novelist [[Jakob Christoph Heer]] for their witness.<ref>Richter, pp. 66-67</ref> Richter also reports that his Romanian colleague profited from Swiss neutrality to play the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] and [[Central Powers]] against each other, obtaining art works and funds from both, making use of their need to stimulate their respective [[propaganda]] efforts.<ref>Richter, pp. 47-48.</ref> While active as a promoter, Tzara also published his first volume of collected poetry, the 1918 ''Vingt-cinq poèmes'' ("Twenty-five Poems").<ref name="rcard530">Cardinal, pg. 530</ref>

A major event took place in autumn 1918, when [[Francis Picabia]], who was then publisher of ''[[391 (magazine)|391]]'' magazine and a distant Dada affiliate, visited Zürich and introduced his colleagues there to his [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] views on art and reason.<ref>Richter, pp. 70-74.</ref> In the [[United States]], Picabia, [[Man Ray]] and [[Marcel Duchamp]] had earlier set up their own version of Dada. This circle, based in New York City, sought affiliation with Tzara's only in 1921, when they jokingly asked him to grant them permission to use "Dada" as their own name (to which Tzara replied: "Dada belongs to everybody").<ref>Hofman, pg. 12</ref> The visit was credited by Richter with boosting the Romanian author's status, but also with making Tzara himself "switch suddenly from a position of balance between art and [[anti-art]] into the [[Stratosphere|stratospheric]] regions of pure and joyful nothingness."<ref>Richter, pg. 71</ref> The movement subsequently organized its last major Swiss show, held at the Saal zur Kaufleutern, with choreography by [[Susanne Perrottet]], [[Sophie Taeuber-Arp]], and with the participation of [[Käthe Wulff]], [[Hans Heusser]], Tzara, Hans Richter and [[Walter Serner]].<ref>Richter, pp. 74-78.</ref> It was there that Serner read from his 1918 essay, whose very title advocated ''Letzte Lockerung'' ("Final Dissolution"): this part is believed to have caused the subsequent mêlée, during which the public attacked the performers and succeeded in interrupting, but not canceling, the show.<ref>Richter, pp. 78-80.</ref>

Following the November 1918 [[Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)|Armistice with Germany]], Dada's evolution was marked by political developments. In October 1919, Tzara, Arp and [[Otto Flake]] began publishing ''[[Der Zeltweg]]'', a journal aimed at further popularizing Dada in a post-war world were the borders were again accessible.<ref name="Richter, p.80">Richter, pg. 80.</ref> Richter, who admits that the magazine was "rather tame", also notes that Tzara and his colleagues were dealing with the impact of [[communist revolution]]s, in particular the [[October Revolution]] and the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919|German revolts of 1918]], which "had stirred men's minds, divided men's interests and diverted energies in the direction of political change."<ref name="Richter, p.80"/> The same commentator, however, dismisses those accounts which, he believes, led readers to believe that ''Der Zeltweg'' was "an association of revolutionary artists."<ref name="Richter, p.80"/> According to one account rendered by historian Robert Levy, Tzara shared company with a group of Romanian [[Communism|communist]] students, and, as such, may have met with [[Ana Pauker]], who was later one of the [[Romanian Communist Party]]'s most prominent activists.<ref>Robert Levy, ''Ana Pauker: The Rise and Fall of a Jewish Communist'', [[University of California Press]], Berkeley, pg. 37. {{ISBN|0-520-22395-0}}</ref>

Arp and Janco drifted away from the movement ca. 1919, when they created the [[Constructivism (art)|Constructivist]]-inspired workshop ''[[Das Neue Leben]]''.<ref name="pcern115">Cernat, pg. 115</ref> In Romania, Dada was awarded an ambiguous reception from Tzara's former associate Vinea. Although he was sympathetic to its goals, treasured Hugo Ball and Hennings and promised to adapt his own writings to its requirements, Vinea cautioned Tzara and the Jancos in favor of lucidity.<ref>Cernat, pp. 121-123, 181–183</ref> When Vinea submitted his poem ''Doleanțe'' ("Grievances") to be published by Tzara and his associates, he was turned down, an incident which critics attribute to a contrast between the reserved tone of the piece and the revolutionary tenets of Dada.<ref>Cernat, pp.123-124.</ref>

===Paris Dada===
[[File:Jane Heap, John Rodker, Martha Dennison, Tristan Tzara, Margaret Anderson, ca. 1920s.jpg|thumb|330px|Tzara (second from right) in the 1920s, with [[Margaret C. Anderson]], [[Jane Heap]], and [[John Rodker]]]]
[[File:Tristan Tzara lisant L'Action Française.jpg|thumb|280px|Tzara reading [[L'Action française (quotidien)|L'Action Française]], French nationalist newspaper in the 1920s, [[archives Charmet]].]]
In late 1919, Tristan Tzara left Switzerland to join Breton, Soupault and [[Claude Rivière]] in editing the Paris-based magazine ''[[Littérature]]''.<ref name="mrdada"/><ref>Cardinal, pp. 529-530; Hofman, pp. 12-14; Richter, pp. 167, 173.</ref> Already a mentor for the French avant-garde, he was, according to Hans Richter, perceived as an "Anti-[[Messiah]]" and a "prophet".<ref name="hrich168">Richter, pg. 168</ref> Reportedly, Dada mythology had it that he entered the French capital in a snow-white or lilac-colored car, passing down [[Boulevard Raspail]] through a [[triumphal arch]] made from his own pamphlets, being greeted by cheering crowds and a fireworks display.<ref name="hrich168"/> Richter dismisses this account, indicating that Tzara actually walked from [[Gare de l'Est]] to Picabia's home, without anyone expecting him to arrive.<ref name="hrich168"/>

He is often described as the main figure in the ''Littérature'' circle, and credited with having more firmly set its artistic principles in the line of Dada.<ref name="mrdada"/><ref>Hofman, pg. 13; Richter, pg. 167</ref> When Picabia began publishing a new series of ''391'' in Paris, Tzara seconded him and, Richter says, produced issues of the magazine "decked out [...] in all the colors of Dada."<ref name="hrich167"/> He was also issuing his ''Dada'' magazine, printed in Paris but using the same format, renaming it ''Bulletin Dada'' and later ''Dadaphone''.<ref>Hofman, pp. 13-14; Richter, pp. 173, 179–180.</ref> At around that time, he met American author [[Gertrude Stein]], who wrote about him in ''[[The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas]]'',<ref>"''Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas''", in ''The Cambridge Handbook of American Literature'', [[Cambridge University Press]], Cambridge, 1986 pg. 13; {{ISBN|0-521-30703-1}}<br>Armstrong, pg. 496.</ref> and the artist couple [[Robert Delaunay|Robert]] and [[Sonia Delaunay]] (with whom he worked in tandem for "poem-dresses" and other simultaneist literary pieces).<ref name="tgdelau">Tag Gronberg, "Sonia Delaunay's Simultaneous Fashions and the Modern Woman", in Whitney Chadwick, Tirza True Latimer (eds.), ''The Modern Woman Revisited: Paris between the Wars'', [[Rutgers University Press]], Piscataway, pp. 114-115; {{ISBN|0-8135-3292-2}}</ref>

Tzara became involved in a number of Dada experiments, on which he collaborated with Breton, Aragon, Soupault, Picabia or [[Paul Éluard]].<ref name="jycmelusine"/><ref name="enotestt">[http://www.enotes.com/poetry-criticism/tzara-tristan "Tristan Tzara 1896–1963"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019020831/http://www.enotes.com/poetry-criticism/tzara-tristan |date=19 October 2011 }}, in Susan Salas, Laura Wisner-Broyles, ''Poetry Criticism'', Vol. 27, Gale Group Inc., 2000, [http://www.enotes.com/ eNotes.com]; retrieved 23 April 2008</ref><ref>Hofman, pg. 13; Richter, pp. 173-176</ref> Other authors who came into contact with Dada at that stage were [[Jean Cocteau]], [[Paul Dermée]] and [[Raymond Radiguet]].<ref>Richter, pp. 173-174</ref> The performances staged by Dada were often meant to popularize its principles, and Dada continued to draw attention on itself by [[hoax]]es and [[false advertising]], announcing that the [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] film star [[Charlie Chaplin]] was going to appear on stage at its show,<ref name="bgend77"/> or that its members were going to have their heads shaved or their hair cut off on stage.<ref>Gendron, pg. 77; Richter, pg. 181.</ref> In another instance, Tzara and his associates lectured at the ''[[Université populaire]]'' in front of industrial workers, who were reportedly less than impressed.<ref name="Richter, p.175-176">Richter, pp. 175-176</ref> Richter believes that, ideologically, Tzara was still in tribute to Picabia's nihilistic and anarchic views (which made the Dadaists attack all political and cultural ideologies), but that this also implied a measure of sympathy for the [[working class]].<ref name="Richter, p.175-176"/>

Dada activities in Paris culminated in the March 1920 [[variety show]] at the [[Théâtre de l'Œuvre]], which featured readings from Breton, Picabia, Dermée and Tzara's earlier work, ''La Première aventure céleste de M. Antipyrine'' ("The First Heavenly Adventure of Mr. Antipyrine").<ref>Londré, pg. 398; Richter, pp. 179-183.</ref> Tzara's melody, ''Vaseline symphonique'' ("Symphonic Vaseline"), which required ten or twenty people to shout "cra" and "cri" on a rising scale, was also performed.<ref>Gendron, pg. 77; Richter, pg. 182</ref> A scandal erupted when Breton read Picabia's ''Manifeste cannibale'' ("Cannibal Manifesto"), lashing out at the audience and mocking them, to which they answered by aiming rotten fruit at the stage.<ref>Richter, pp. 180-182.</ref>

The Dada phenomenon was only noticed in Romania beginning in 1920, and its overall reception was negative. Traditionalist historian [[Nicolae Iorga]], Symbolist promoter [[Ovid Densusianu]], the more reserved modernists [[Camil Petrescu]] and [[Benjamin Fondane]] all refused to accept it as a valid artistic manifestation.<ref>Cernat, pg. 125</ref> Although he rallied with tradition, Vinea defended the subversive current in front of more serious criticism, and rejected the widespread rumor that Tzara had acted as an [[agent of influence]] for the [[Central Powers]] during the war.<ref>Cernat, pg. 127</ref> [[Eugen Lovinescu]], editor of ''[[Sburătorul]]'' and one of Vinea's rivals on the modernist scene, acknowledged the influence exercised by Tzara on the younger avant-garde authors, but analyzed his work only briefly, using as an example one of his pre-Dada poems, and depicting him as an advocate of literary "extremism".<ref>Cernat, pp. 126-127, 299</ref>

===Dada stagnation===
[[File:St-Julien-le-Pauvre & houses.jpg|thumb|260px|[[Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre]], site of the 1921 "Dada excursion"]]
By 1921, Tzara had become involved in conflicts with other figures in the movement, whom he claimed had parted with the spirit of Dada.<ref>Cernat, pp. 127-128; Richter, pp. 122-123.</ref> He was targeted by the Berlin-based Dadaists, in particular by Huelsenbeck and Serner, the former of whom was also involved in a conflict with [[Raoul Hausmann]] over leadership status.<ref name="hrich123"/> According to Richter, tensions between Breton and Tzara had surfaced in 1920, when Breton first made known his wish to do away with musical performances altogether and alleged that the Romanian was merely repeating himself.<ref>Richter, pp. 182-183, 192–193.</ref> The Dada shows themselves were by then such common occurrences that audiences expected to be insulted by the performers.<ref name="rcard530"/>

A more serious crisis occurred in May, when Dada organized a mock trial of [[Maurice Barrès]], whose early affiliation with the Symbolists had been shadowed by his [[antisemitism]] and [[reactionary]] stance: [[Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes]] was the prosecutor, Aragon and Soupault the defense attorneys, with Tzara, Ungaretti, [[Benjamin Péret]] and others as witnesses (a [[mannequin]] stood in for Barrès).<ref>Richter, pp. 184-186.</ref> Péret immediately upset Picabia and Tzara by refusing to make the trial an absurd one, and by introducing a political subtext with which Breton nevertheless agreed.<ref>Richter, pp. 184, 186.</ref> In June, Tzara and Picabia clashed with each other, after Tzara expressed an opinion that his former mentor was becoming too radical.<ref>Richter, pp. 184-185.</ref> During the same season, Breton, Arp, Ernst, [[Maja Kruschek]] and Tzara were in Austria, at [[Imst]], where they published their last manifesto as a group, ''Dada au grand air'' ("Dada in the Open Air") or ''Der Sängerkrieg in Tirol'' ("The Battle of the Singers in [[German Tyrol|Tyrol]]").<ref>Richter, pg. 186 (illustration 96)</ref> Tzara also visited [[History of Czechoslovakia (1918–1938)|Czechoslovakia]], where he reportedly hoped to gain adherents to his cause.<ref>Cernat, pg. 128</ref>

Also in 1921, Ion Vinea wrote an article for the Romanian newspaper ''[[Adevărul]]'', arguing that the movement had exhausted itself (although, in his letters to Tzara, he continued to ask his friend to return home and spread his message there).<ref>Cernat, pp. 127-128.</ref> After July 1922, Marcel Janco rallied with Vinea in editing ''[[Contimporanul]]'', which published some of Tzara's earliest poems but never offered space to any Dadaist manifesto.<ref>Cernat, pp. 130, 138, 153.</ref> Reportedly, the conflict between Tzara and Janco had a personal note: Janco later mentioned "some dramatic quarrels" between his colleague and him.<ref>Răileanu & Carassou, pg. 151</ref> They avoided each other for the rest of their lives and Tzara even struck out the dedications to Janco from his early poems.<ref>Cernat, pp. 115, 137.</ref> [[Julius Evola]] also grew disappointed by the movement's total rejection of tradition and began his personal search for an alternative, pursuing a path which later led him to [[Western esotericism|esotericism]] and fascism.<ref name="buddevo"/>

===''Evening of the Bearded Heart''===
[[File:Theo van Doesburg kleine Dada soirée.jpg|thumb|230px|[[Theo van Doesburg]]'s poster for a Dada soirée (ca.1923)]]
Tzara was openly attacked by Breton in a February 1922 article for ''[[Le Journal de Peuple]]'', where the Romanian writer was denounced as "an impostor" avid for "publicity".<ref>Cernat, p.114; Richter, p.188</ref> In March, Breton initiated the ''Congress for the Determination and Defense of the Modern Spirit''. The French writer used the occasion to strike out Tzara's name from among the Dadaists, citing in his support Dada's Huelsenbeck, Serner, and [[Christian Schad]].<ref name="pcern114">Cernat, p.114</ref> Basing his statement on a note supposedly authored by Huelsenbeck, Breton also accused Tzara of opportunism, claiming that he had planned wartime editions of Dada works in such a manner as not to upset actors on the political stage, making sure that German Dadaists were not made available to the public in countries subject to the [[Supreme War Council]].<ref name="pcern114"/> Tzara, who attended the Congress only as a means to subvert it,<ref>Richter, p.187</ref> responded to the accusations the same month, arguing that Huelsenbeck's note was fabricated and that Schad had not been one of the original Dadaists.<ref name="pcern114"/> Rumors reported much later by American writer [[Brion Gysin]] had it that Breton's claims also depicted Tzara as an informer for the [[Prefecture of Police]].<ref name="nzgysin">[[Nicholas Zurbrugg]], "Brion Gysin", in ''Art, Performance, Media: 31 Interviews'', [[University of Minnesota Press]], Minneapolis, p.190. {{ISBN|0-8166-3832-2}}</ref>

In May 1922, Dada staged its own funeral.<ref name="Londré, p.398; Richter, p.191">Londré, p.398; Richter, p.191</ref> According to Hans Richter, the main part of this took place in [[Weimar]], where the Dadaists attended a festival of the [[Bauhaus]] art school, during which Tzara proclaimed the elusive nature of his art: "Dada is useless, like everything else in life. [...] Dada is a virgin microbe which penetrates with the insistence of air into all those spaces that reason has failed to fill with words and conventions."<ref>Richter, p.191</ref>

In "The Bearded Heart" manifesto a number of artists backed the marginalization of Breton in support of Tzara. Alongside Cocteau, Arp, Ribemont-Dessaignes, and Éluard, the pro-Tzara faction included [[Erik Satie]], [[Theo van Doesburg]], [[Serge Charchoune]], [[Louis-Ferdinand Céline]], [[Marcel Duchamp]], [[Ossip Zadkine]], [[Jean Metzinger]], [[Ilia Zdanevich]], and [[Man Ray]].<ref>Richter, p.188</ref> During an associated soirée, ''Evening of the Bearded Heart'', which began on 6 July 1923, Tzara presented a re-staging of his play ''[[The Gas Heart]]'' (which had been first performed two years earlier to howls of derision from its audience), for which [[Sonia Delaunay]] designed the costumes.<ref name="tgdelau"/> Breton interrupted its performance and reportedly fought with several of his former associates and broke furniture, prompting a theatre riot that only the intervention of the police halted.<ref>Richter, p.190-191</ref> Dada's vaudeville declined in importance and disappeared altogether after that date.<ref>Gendron, p.78</ref>

Picabia took Breton's side against Tzara,<ref>Hofman, p.15; Richter, p.188, 190</ref> and replaced the staff of his ''391'', enlisting collaborations from [[Clément Pansaers]] and [[Ezra Pound]].<ref>Richter, p.188, 190</ref> Breton marked the end of Dada in 1924, when he issued the first ''[[Surrealist Manifesto]]''. Richter suggests that "Surrealism devoured and digested Dada."<ref name="Londré, p.398; Richter, p.191"/> Tzara distanced himself from the new trend, disagreeing with its methods and, increasingly, with its politics.<ref name="mrdada"/><ref name="rcard530"/><ref name="enotestt"/><ref>Cernat, p.239-240</ref> In 1923, he and a few other former Dadaists collaborated with Richter and the [[Constructivism (art)|Constructivist]] artist [[El Lissitzky]] on the magazine ''G'',<ref>Haftmann, in Richter, p.221</ref> and, the following year, he wrote pieces for the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]]-[[Slovenia]]n magazine ''Tank'' (edited by [[Ferdinand Delak]]).<ref>Grigorescu, p.315</ref>

===Transition to Surrealism===
[[File:Paris 18 - Maison Tristan Tzara -1.JPG|thumb|230px|''Maison Tzara'', designed by [[Adolf Loos]]]]
Tzara continued to write, becoming more seriously interested in the theater. In 1924, he published and staged the play ''[[Handkerchief of Clouds]]'', which was soon included in the repertoire of [[Serge Diaghilev]]'s ''[[Ballets Russes]]''.<ref>Lynn Garafola, ''Legacies of Twentieth-century Dance'', [[Wesleyan University Press]], Middletown, 2005, p.172. {{ISBN|0-8195-6674-8}}</ref> He also collected his earlier Dada texts as the ''Seven Dada Manifestos''. [[Marxism|Marxist]] thinker [[Henri Lefebvre]] reviewed them enthusiastically; he later became one of the author's friends.<ref>[[Martin Jay]], ''Marxism and Totality: the Adventures of a Concept from Lukács to Habermas'', [[University of California Press]], Berkeley, 1984, p.293 {{ISBN|0-520-05742-2}}</ref>

In Romania, Tzara's work was partly recuperated by ''Contimporanul'', which notably staged public readings of his works during the international art exhibit it organized in 1924, and again during the "new art demonstration" of 1925.<ref>Cernat, p.153, 156, 159, 186</ref> In parallel, the short-lived magazine ''Integral'', where [[Ilarie Voronca]] and [[Ion Călugăru]] were the main animators, took significant interest in Tzara's work.<ref>Cernat, p.239-240, 277, 279, 287</ref> In a 1927 interview with the publication, he voiced his opposition to the Surrealist group's adoption of communism, indicating that such politics could only result in a "new bourgeoisie" being created, and explaining that he had opted for a personal "[[permanent revolution]]", which would preserve "the holiness of the ego".<ref>Cernat, p.239</ref>

In 1925, Tristan Tzara was in [[Stockholm]], where he married [[Greta Knutson]], with whom he had a son, Christophe (born 1927).<ref name="jycmelusine"/> A former student of painter [[André Lhote]], she was known for her interest in [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenology]] and [[abstract art]].<ref name="prsurrgk">"Greta Knutson", in [[Penelope Rosemont]], ''[[Surrealist Women]]'', [[Continuum International Publishing Group]], London & New York, 1998, p.69. {{ISBN|0-485-30088-5}}</ref> Around the same period, with funds from Knutson's inheritance, Tzara commissioned [[Austria]]n architect [[Adolf Loos]], a former representative of the [[Vienna Secession]] whom he had met in Zürich, to build him a house in Paris.<ref name="jycmelusine"/> The rigidly [[Functionalism (architecture)|functionalist]] ''Maison Tristan Tzara'', built in [[Montmartre]], was designed following Tzara's specific requirements and decorated with samples of [[African art]].<ref name="jycmelusine"/> It was Loos' only major contribution in his Parisian years.<ref name="jycmelusine"/>

In 1929, he reconciled with Breton, and sporadically attended the Surrealists' meetings in Paris.<ref name="rcard530"/><ref name="enotestt"/> The same year, he issued the poetry book ''De nos oiseaux'' ("Of Our Birds").<ref name="rcard530"/> This period saw the publication of ''[[The Approximate Man]]'' (1931), alongside the volumes ''L'Arbre des voyageurs'' ("The Travelers' Tree", 1930), ''Où boivent les loups'' ("Where Wolves Drink", 1932), ''L'Antitête'' ("The Antihead", 1933) and ''Grains et issues'' ("Seed and Bran", 1935).<ref name="enotestt"/> By then, it was also announced that Tzara had started work on a screenplay.<ref name="pcern277">Cernat, p.277</ref> In 1930, he directed and produced a cinematic version of ''Le Cœur à barbe'', starring Breton and other leading Surrealists.<ref name="ttzimdb">{{IMDb name|0879262}}</ref> Five years later, he signed his name to ''The Testimony against [[Gertrude Stein]]'', published by [[Eugene Jolas]]'s magazine ''[[transition (literary journal)|transition]]'' in reply to Stein's memoir ''[[The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas]]'',<!-- sic --> in which he accused his former friend of being a [[wikt:megalomaniac|megalomaniac]].<ref>Armstrong, p.496</ref>

The poet became involved in further developing [[Surrealist techniques]], and, together with Breton and [[Valentine Hugo]], drew one of the better-known examples of "[[exquisite corpse]]s".<ref>[[Ion Biberi]], ''Arta suprarealistă'', Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 1973, p.53. {{OCLC|22905196}}</ref> Tzara also prefaced a 1934 collection of Surrealist poems by his friend [[René Char]], and the following year he and Greta Knutson visited Char in [[L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue]].<ref>"René Char Bio-Bibliography", in ''Selected Poems of René Char'' (edited by [[Mary Ann Caws]] and Tina Jolas), [[New Directions Publishers]], New York, 1992, p.xii. {{ISBN|0-8112-1191-6}}</ref> Tzara's wife was also affiliated with the Surrealist group at around the same time.<ref name="jycmelusine"/><ref name="prsurrgk"/> This association ended when she parted with Tzara late in the 1930s.<ref name="jycmelusine"/><ref name="prsurrgk"/>

At home, Tzara's works were collected and edited by the Surrealist promoter [[Sașa Pană]], who corresponded with him over several years.<ref>Cernat, p.49, 106, 109, 116; Răileanu & Carassou, p.154-155</ref> The first such edition saw print in 1934, and featured the 1913–1915 poems Tzara had left in Vinea's care.<ref name="pcern116"/> In 1928–1929, Tzara exchanged letters with his friend [[Jacques G. Costin]], a ''Contimporanul'' affiliate who did not share all of Vinea's views on literature, who offered to organize his visit to Romania and asked him to translate his work into French.<ref>Cernat, p.192-194</ref>

===Affiliation with communism and Spanish Civil War===

Alarmed by the establishment of [[Adolf Hitler]]'s [[Nazi Germany|Nazi regime]], which also signified the end of Berlin's avant-garde, he merged his activities as an art promoter with the cause of [[anti-fascism]], and was close to the [[French Communist Party]] (PCF). In 1936, Richter recalled, he published a series of photographs secretly taken by [[Kurt Schwitters]] in [[Hanover]], works which documented the destruction of Nazi propaganda by the locals, [[ration stamp]] with reduced quantities of food, and other hidden aspects of Hitler's rule.<ref>Richter, p.153</ref> After the outbreak of the [[Spanish Civil War]], he briefly left France and joined the [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican forces]].<ref name="enotestt"/><ref>Livezeanu, p.245-246</ref> Alongside [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] reporter [[Ilya Ehrenburg]], Tzara visited [[Madrid]], which was besieged by the [[Spain under Franco|Nationalists]] (''see [[Siege of Madrid]]'').<ref name="iliv246">Livezeanu, p.246</ref> Upon his return, he published the collection of poems ''Midis gagnés'' ("Conquered Southern Regions").<ref name="enotestt"/> Some of them had previously been printed in the brochure ''Les poètes du monde défendent le peuple espagnol'' ("The Poets of the World Defend the Spanish People", 1937), which was edited by two prominent authors and activists, [[Nancy Cunard]] and the Chilean poet [[Pablo Neruda]].<ref>Susan Robin Suleiman, "Committed Painting", in Denis Hollier (ed.), ''A New History of French Literature'', [[Harvard University Press]], Cambridge, 1994, p.938. {{ISBN|0-674-61566-2}}</ref> Tzara had also signed Cunard's June 1937 call to intervention against [[Francisco Franco]].<ref>Marie-Jaqueline Lancaster, ''Brian Howard: Portrait of a Failure'', Timewell Press, London, 2005, p.221. {{ISBN|1-85725-211-X}}</ref> Reportedly, he and Nancy Cunard were romantically involved.<ref>Caroline Weber, "Nancy Cunard: a Troubled Heiress with an Ideological Mission", in ''[[Int. Her. Trib.|The International Herald Tribune]]'', 30 March 2007</ref>

Although the poet was moving away from Surrealism,<ref name="rcard530"/> his adherence to strict [[Marxism-Leninism]] was reportedly questioned by both the PCF and the Soviet Union.<ref name="pbeit49">Beitchman, p.49</ref> [[Semiotics|Semiotician]] Philip Beitchman places their attitude in connection with Tzara's own vision of [[Utopia]], which combined communist messages with [[Freudo-Marxism|Freudo-Marxist]] [[psychoanalysis]] and made use of particularly violent imagery.<ref>Beitchman, p.48-49</ref> Reportedly, Tzara refused to be enlisted in supporting the [[party line (politics)|party line]], maintaining his independence and refusing to take the forefront at public rallies.<ref name="spbuot">{{in lang|ro}} Sorin Pop, [http://www.observatorcultural.ro/*articleID_9669-articles_details.html "François Buot, Tristan Tzara. Omul care a pus la cale revoluția Dada"] (book review), in ''[[Observator Cultural]]'', Nr. 195, November 2003</ref>

However, others note that the former Dadaist leader would often show himself a follower of political guidelines. As early as 1934, Tzara, together with Breton, Éluard and communist writer [[René Crevel]], organized an informal trial of independent-minded Surrealist [[Salvador Dalí]], who was at the time a confessed admirer of Hitler, and whose portrait of [[William Tell]] had alarmed them because it shared likeness with [[Bolshevik]] leader [[Vladimir Lenin]].<ref>Carlos Rojas, ''Salvador Dalí, or the Art of Spitting on Your Mother's Portrait'', [[Penn State University Press]], University Park, 1993, p.98. {{ISBN|0-271-00842-3}}</ref> Historian [[Irina Livezeanu]] notes that Tzara, who agreed with [[Stalinism]] and shunned [[Trotskyism]], submitted to the PCF cultural demands during the writers' congress of 1935, even when his friend Crevel committed suicide to protest the adoption of [[socialist realism]].<ref name="iliv251">Livezeanu, p.251</ref> At a later stage, Livezeanu remarks, Tzara reinterpreted Dada and Surrealism as revolutionary currents, and presented them as such to the public.<ref>Livezeanu, p.247-249</ref> This stance she contrasts with that of Breton, who was more reserved in his attitudes.<ref name="iliv251"/>

===World War II and Resistance===
During [[World War II]], Tzara took refuge from the [[German occupation of France during World War II|German occupation forces]], moving to the southern areas, controlled by the [[Vichy France|Vichy regime]].<ref name="jycmelusine"/><ref name="enotestt"/> On one occasion, the [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] and [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|collaborationist]] publication ''[[Je Suis Partout]]'' made his whereabouts known to the [[Gestapo]].<ref name="mrnnradi">{{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20080607172341/http://www.marianne2.fr/Tristan-Tzara,-radical,-mondain-et-anticonformiste_a41229.html "Tristan Tzara, radical, mondain et anticonformiste"], in ''[[Marianne (magazine)|Marianne]]'', 13 January 2003</ref>

After having secured his book collection and african art collection, Tzara fled in 1940 towards south of France, and hide first in a village called Sanary, then after being expelled by the police, in Saint-Tropez. In 1941, he is arrested but he managed to escape thanks to the complancency of a policeman.<ref>François Buot, ''Tristan Tzara'', Paris, Grasset, 2002, p.350</ref> Tzara joined the [[French Resistance]], rallying with the [[Maquis (World War II)|Maquis]]. A contributor to magazines published by the Resistance, Tzara also took charge of the cultural broadcast for the [[Free French Forces]] clandestine radio station.<ref name="jycmelusine"/><ref name="enotestt"/> He lived in [[Aix-en-Provence]], then in [[Souillac, Lot|Souillac]], and ultimately in [[Toulouse]].<ref name="jycmelusine"/> His son Cristophe was at the time a Resistant in northern France, having joined the ''[[Francs-Tireurs et Partisans]]''.<ref name="mrnnradi"/> In [[Axis Powers|Axis]]-allied and antisemitic Romania (''see [[Romania during World War II]]''), the regime of [[Ion Antonescu]] ordered bookstores not to sell works by Tzara and 44 other Jewish-Romanian authors.<ref>Radu Ioanid, "The Romanian Press: Preparing the Ground for the Holocaust and Reporting on Its Implementation", in Robert Moses Shapiro, ''Why Didn't the Press Shout?: American and International Journalism during the Holocaust'', Ktav, Hoboken, 2003, p.404. {{ISBN|0-88125-775-3}}; {{in lang|ro}} Liviu Rotman (ed.), ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20110818231335/http://jewishfed.ro/fcer/public_html/downloads/carti/Demnitate.pdf Demnitate în vremuri de restriște]'', Editura Hasefer, [[Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania]] & [[Elie Wiesel National Institute for Studying the Holocaust in Romania]], Bucharest, 2008, p.174-175. {{ISBN|978-973-630-189-6}}</ref> In 1942, with the generalization of antisemitic measures, Tzara was also stripped of his Romanian citizenship rights.<ref>{{in lang|ro}} Adrian Niculescu, [http://www.observatorcultural.ro/index.html/articles|details?articleID=23639 "Destinul excepțional al lui Alexandru Șafran"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120906134321/http://www.observatorcultural.ro/index.html/articles |date=6 September 2012 }}, in ''[[Observator Cultural]]'', Nr. 523, May 2010</ref>

In December 1944, five months after the [[Liberation of Paris]], he was contributing to ''[[L'Éternelle Revue]]'', a pro-communist newspaper edited by philosopher [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], through which Sartre was publicizing the heroic image of a France united in resistance, as opposed to the perception that it had passively accepted German control.<ref name="srsmemor">[[Susan Rubin Suleiman]], ''Crises of Memory and the Second World War'', [[Harvard University Press]], Cambridge, 2006, p.30-31. {{ISBN|0-674-02206-8}}</ref> Other contributors included writers Aragon, Char, Éluard, [[Elsa Triolet]], [[Eugène Guillevic]], [[Raymond Queneau]], [[Francis Ponge]], [[Jacques Prévert]] and painter [[Pablo Picasso]].<ref name="srsmemor"/>

Upon the end of the war and the restoration of French independence, Tzara was [[Naturalization|naturalized]] a French citizen.<ref name="enotestt"/> During 1945, under the [[Provisional Government of the French Republic]], he was a representative of the Sud-Ouest region to the [[National Assembly of France|National Assembly]].<ref name="iliv246"/> According to Livezeanu, he "helped reclaim the [[Southern France|South]] from the cultural figures who had associated themselves to Vichy [France]."<ref name="iliv251"/> In April 1946, his early poems, alongside similar pieces by Breton, Éluard, Aragon and Dalí, were the subject of a midnight broadcast on [[Radio in Paris|Parisian Radio]].<ref>"Drop Everything, Drop Dado", in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', 8 April 1946</ref> In 1947, he became a full member of the PCF<ref name="rcard530"/> (according to some sources, he had been one since 1934).<ref name="enotestt"/>

===International leftism===
Over the following decade, Tzara lent his support to political causes. Pursuing his interest in [[primitivism]], he became a critic of the [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]]'s [[French colonial empires|colonial policy]], and joined his voice to those who supported [[decolonization]].<ref name="spbuot"/> Nevertheless, he was appointed [[cultural ambassador]] of the Republic by the [[Paul Ramadier]] cabinet.<ref>Livezeanu, p.244, 246, 247</ref> He also participated in the PCF-organized Congress of Writers, but, unlike Éluard and Aragon, again avoided adapting his style to [[socialist realism]].<ref name="mrnnradi"/>

He returned to Romania on an official visit in late 1946-early 1947,<ref>Cernat, p.113; Livezeanu, ''passim''</ref><ref name="jfapung">{{in lang|ro}} János Farkas, [http://www.revista-apostrof.ro/articole.php?id=154 "Tristan Tzara în Ungaria. Octombrie 1956"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025050140/http://www.revista-apostrof.ro/articole.php?id=154 |date=25 October 2016 }}, in ''[[Apostrof]]'', Vol. XVII, Nr. 12 (199)</ref> as part of a tour of the emerging [[Eastern Bloc]] during which he also stopped in [[History of Czechoslovakia (1945–1948)|Czechoslovakia]], [[Hungary]], and the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia]].<ref name="jfapung"/> The speeches he and [[Sașa Pană]] gave on the occasion, published by ''[[Orizont]]'' journal, were noted for condoning official positions of the PCF and the [[Romanian Communist Party]], and are credited by Irina Livezeanu with causing a rift between Tzara and young Romanian avant-gardists such as Victor Brauner and [[Gherasim Luca]] (who rejected communism and were alarmed by the [[Iron Curtain]] having fallen over Europe).<ref>Livezeanu, p.252</ref> In September of the same year, he was present at the conference of the pro-communist [[International Union of Students]] (where he was a guest of the French-based [[Union of Communist Students]], and met with similar organizations from Romania and other countries).<ref>G. Brătescu, ''Ce-a fost să fie. Notații autobiografice'', [[Humanitas publishing house|Humanitas]], Bucharest, 2003, p.207-208. {{ISBN|973-50-0425-9}}</ref>

In 1949–1950, Tzara answered Aragon's call and become active in the international campaign to liberate [[Nazım Hikmet]], a [[Turkey|Turkish]] poet whose 1938 arrest for communist activities had created a ''[[cause célèbre]]'' for the pro-Soviet public opinion.<ref>Göksu & Timms, p.212, 318</ref><ref name="mcmusic">Mark Carroll, ''Music and Ideology in Cold War Europe'', [[Cambridge University Press]], Cambridge, 2003, p.52. {{ISBN|0-521-82072-3}}</ref> Tzara chaired the Committee for the Liberation of Nazım Hikmet, which issued petitions to national governments<ref name="mcmusic"/><ref>Göksu & Timms, p.212</ref> and commissioned works in honor of Hikmet (including musical pieces by [[Louis Durey]] and [[Serge Nigg]]).<ref name="mcmusic"/> Hikmet was eventually released in July 1950, and publicly thanked Tzara during his subsequent visit to Paris.<ref>Göksu & Timms, p.318</ref>

His works of the period include, among others: ''Le Signe de vie'' ("Sign of Life", 1946), ''Terre sur terre'' ("Earth on Earth", 1946), ''Sans coup férir'' ("Without a Need to Fight", 1949), ''De mémoire d'homme'' ("From a Man's Memory", 1950), ''Parler seul'' ("Speaking Alone", 1950), and ''La Face intérieure'' ("The Inner Face", 1953), followed in 1955 by ''À haute flamme'' ("Flame out Loud") and ''Le Temps naissant'' ("The Nascent Time"), and the 1956 ''Le Fruit permis'' ("The Permitted Fruit").<ref name="enotestt"/><ref name="imjbokks">[http://www.imj.org.il/imagine/dada_surrealism/pdf/books%20from%20schwarz%20catalog-3.pdf ''Books in the Vera and Arturo Schwarz Collection''], at the [[Israel Museum]]; retrieved 23 April 2008</ref> Tzara continued to be an active promoter of modernist culture. Around 1949, having read [[Ireland|Irish]] author [[Samuel Beckett]]'s manuscript of ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'', Tzara facilitated the play's staging by approaching producer [[Roger Blin]].<ref name="dbgodot">[[David Bradby]], ''Beckett: Waiting for Godot'', [[Cambridge University Press]], Cambridge, 2001, p.46. {{ISBN|0-521-59510-X}}</ref> He also translated into French some poems by Hikmet<ref>Bernard Vargaftig (ed.), ''Poésies de Résistence'', J'ai lu, Paris, 1994. {{ISBN|2-277-23767-1}}</ref> and the Hungarian author [[Attila József]].<ref name="jfapung"/> In 1949, he introduced Picasso to art dealer [[Heinz Berggruen]] (thus helping start their lifelong partnership),<ref>Alan Riding
"Obituary: Heinz Berggruen, Noted Art Dealer and Collector", in ''[[Int. Her. Trib.|The International Herald Tribune]]'', 26 February 2007</ref> and, in 1951, wrote the catalog for an exhibit of works by his friend [[Max Ernst]]; the text celebrated the artist's "free use of stimuli" and "his discovery of a new kind of humor."<ref>Richter, p.164</ref>

===1956 protest and final years===
[[File:Tristan Tzara grave.jpg|thumb|240px|Tzara's grave in the [[Cimetière du Montparnasse]]]]
In October 1956, Tzara visited the [[People's Republic of Hungary]], where the government of [[Imre Nagy]] was coming into conflict with the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="mrnnradi"/><ref name="jfapung"/> This followed an invitation on the part of Hungarian writer [[Gyula Illyés]], who wanted his colleague to be present at ceremonies marking the [[Rehabilitation (Soviet)|rehabilitation]] of [[László Rajk]] (a local communist leader whose prosecution had been ordered by [[Joseph Stalin]]).<ref name="jfapung"/> Tzara was receptive of the Hungarians' demand for [[liberalization]],<ref name="mrnnradi"/><ref name="jfapung"/> contacted the anti-[[Stalinism|Stalinist]] and former Dadaist [[Lajos Kassák]], and deemed the anti-Soviet movement "revolutionary".<ref name="jfapung"/> However, unlike much of Hungarian public opinion, the poet did not recommend emancipation from Soviet control, and described the independence demanded by local writers as "an abstract notion".<ref name="jfapung"/> The statement he issued, widely quoted in the Hungarian and international press, forced a reaction from the PCF: through Aragon's reply, the party deplored the fact that one of its members was being used in support of "[[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] and anti-Soviet campaigns."<ref name="jfapung"/>

His return to France coincided with the outbreak of the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian Revolution]], which ended with a Soviet military intervention. On 24 October, Tzara was ordered to a PCF meeting, where activist [[Laurent Casanova]] reportedly ordered him to keep silent, which Tzara did.<ref name="jfapung"/> Tzara's apparent dissidence and the crisis he helped provoke within the Communist Party were celebrated by Breton, who had adopted a pro-Hungarian stance, and who defined his friend and rival as "the first spokesman of the Hungarian demand."<ref name="jfapung"/>

He was thereafter mostly withdrawn from public life, dedicating himself to researching the work of 15th-century poet [[François Villon]],<ref name="spbuot"/> and, like his fellow Surrealist [[Michel Leiris]], to promoting [[Primitivism|primitive]] and [[African art]], which he had been collecting for years.<ref name="mrnnradi"/> In early 1957, Tzara attended a Dada retrospective on the [[Rive Gauche]], which ended in a riot caused by the rival avant-garde [[Mouvement Jariviste]], an outcome which reportedly pleased him.<ref>"Battle of the Nihilists", in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', 8 April 1957</ref> In August 1960, one year after the [[French Fifth Republic|Fifth Republic]] had been established by [[President of France|President]] [[Charles de Gaulle]], French forces were confronting the Algerian rebels (''see [[Algerian War]]''). Together with [[Simone de Beauvoir]], [[Marguerite Duras]], [[Jérôme Lindon]], [[Alain Robbe-Grillet]] and other intellectuals, he addressed [[Prime Minister of France|Premier]] [[Michel Debré]] a letter of protest, concerning France's refusal to grant Algeria its independence.<ref name="laduras">[[Laure Adler]], ''Marguerite Duras: A Life'', [[University of Chicago Press]], Chicago, 2000, p.233-234. {{ISBN|0-226-00758-8}}</ref> As a result, [[Minister of Culture (France)|Minister of Culture]] [[André Malraux]] announced that his cabinet would not subsidize any films to which Tzara and the others might contribute, and the signatories could no longer appear on stations managed by the state-owned [[Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française|French Broadcasting Service]].<ref name="laduras"/>

In 1961, as recognition for his work as a poet, Tzara was awarded the prestigious [[Taormina Prize]].<ref name="enotestt"/> One of his final public activities took place in 1962, when he attended the [[International Congress on African Culture]], organized by English curator [[Frank McEwen]] and held at the [[National Gallery of Zimbabwe|National Gallery]] in [[Harare|Salisbury]], [[Southern Rhodesia]].<ref>[[Johannesburg Art Gallery]], ''Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent'', Jacana Media, 2007, p.227. {{ISBN|1-77009-363-X}}</ref> He died one year later in his Paris home, and was buried at the [[Cimetière du Montparnasse]].<ref name="jycmelusine"/>