   jean-joseph rabearivelo (4 march 1901 or 1903&nbsp;â 22 june 1937), born joseph-casimir rabearivelo, is widely considered to be africa's first modern poet and the greatest literary artist of madagascar. part of the first generation raised under french colonization, rabearivelo grew up impoverished and failed to complete secondary education. his passion for french literature and traditional malagasy poetry prompted him to read extensively and educate himself on a variety of subjects, including the french language and its poetic and prose traditions. he published his first poems as an adolescent in local literary revues, soon obtaining employment at a publishing house where he worked as a proofreader and editor of its literary journals. he published numerous poetry anthologies in french and malagasy, as well as literary critiques, an opera, and two novels. rabearivelo's early period of modernist-inspired poetry showed skill and attracted critical attention but adhered strictly to traditional genre conventions. the surrealist poetry he composed beginning in 1931 displayed greater originality, garnering him strong praise and acclaim. despite increasing critical attention in international poetry revues, rabearivelo was never afforded access to the elite social circles of colonial madagascar. he suffered a series of personal and professional disappointments, including the death of his daughter, the french authorities' decision to exclude him from the list of exhibitors at the universal exposition in paris, and growing debt worsened by his philandering and opium addiction. following rabearivelo's suicide by cyanide poisoning in 1937, he became viewed as a colonial martyr. the death of rabearivelo occurred just prior to the emergence of the nÃ©gritude movement, by which time the malagasy poet had established an international reputati
1900s_births 1937_deaths 20th-century_dramatists_and_playwrights 20th-century_novelists 20th-century_poets French-language_poets Malagasy_dramatists_and_playwrights Malagasy_poets People_from_Antananarivo Suicides_by_cyanide_poisoning Writers_who_committed_suicide