Philippe Soupault (2 August 1897, Chaville, Hauts-de-Seine – 12 March 1990) was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was characterized by the Dadaist style and later initiated the Surrealist style with André Breton. Soupault initiated the periodical Littérature together with the writers Breton and Louis Aragon in Paris during 1919, which, for many, dates the beginnings of Surrealism . The first book of automatic writing, Les champs magnétiques (1920), was co-authored by Soupault and Breton.He directed Radio Tunis from 1937 à 1940, when he was arrested by the pro-Vichy regime. He fled successfully to Algiers.
After imprisonment by the Nazis during World War II, Soupault traveled to the United States, teaching at Swarthmore College but returned subsequently to France in October 1945. His works include such large volumes of poetry as Aquarium (1917) and Rose des vents [compass card] (1920) and the novel Les Dernières Nuits de Paris (1928; tr. Last Nights of Paris, 1929).
During 1957, he wrote the libretto for Germaine Tailleferre's Opera "La Petite Sirène", based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale "The Little Mermaid". The work was broadcast by French Radio National during 1959.
In 1990, the year Soupault died, Serbian rock band Bjesovi recorded their version of his poem Georgia in Serbian.
Soupaut's short story "Death of Nick Carter" was translated by Robin Walz in 2007, and published in issue 24 of the McSweeney's Quarterly.