Paul Valéry (Sète, 1871- Paris, 1945) studied law in Montpellier, where he also published his first poems in various literary magazines, including Narciso speaks (1891). In Paris he befriended André Gide and Stéphane Mallarmé. Unrequited love with a woman led him to an emotional crisis that led him to abandon poetry and give himself up to the exclusive cult of reason and intelligence.

In 1894 he settled in Paris. The following year he published the philosophical essays Introduction to the method of Leonardo da Vinci and The Evening with Mr. Edmond Teste. His poetic style was considered the quintessence of “pure poetry” after the publication of the poem La joven Parca (1917), Álbum de versos Antiguos (1920) and Cármenes (1922), which includes the famous poem El cementerio marino.

He worked as a civil servant in the Ministry of War and between 1900 and 1920 he was secretary to one of the directors of the Havas agency. In 1925 he entered the French Academy.

In addition, he wrote the prose dialogues Eupalinos or the Architect (1923) and The soul and the dance (1923). In Variety he included a compilation of essays and lectures. Other outstanding works were Analecta, Bad thoughts and others and As such. Between 1937 and 1943 he served as professor of poetics at the College de France.

He also wrote for the theater the ballets Amphion (1931) and Semíramis (1934) and composed the libretto for La cantata de Narciso (1942). After his death in 1945, some unpublished works were published, including the Notebooks.