Jean Gebser (1905-1973)

The poet and writer Jean Gebser, who became a Swiss citizen in 1951, was born in 1905 in Poznań and died in 1973 in Bern. In 1925, Gebser co-founded a book and art printing company in Berlin with Victor Otto Stomps, which included a small publishing house (Die Rabenpresse) where his first poems were published. After stays in Florence and France, Gebser's journey led him to Spain at the end of 1931; in Madrid, he became acquainted with numerous famous poets, including Vicente Aleixandre, Jorge Guillén, Federico García Lorca, and Pedro Salinas. During these years, Gebser also began his work as a translator. After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Gebser moved to Paris, where he connected with a circle of intellectuals and artists, including Paul Éluard, Louis Aragon, André Malraux, and Pablo Picasso.