Gabriel Tristan Franconi

Born in Paris on May 17, 1887, Gabriel-Tristan Franconi was a French writer and poet of Swiss origin who was later naturalized as French. He grew up in the Saint-Sulpice area and, while still young, became part of lively literary circles in Paris.

In the years before World War I, he helped found the review La Foire aux chimères, wrote under the pseudonym Bis-Bur, and launched Les Lions. He also began a weekly column in Paris-Journal in 1913 called La Semaine cinématographique, noted for being among the early examples of film criticism in France. His best-known books include Bisbur au Démocratic-Palace (1917) and Un tel de l'armée française (1918), with a volume of poems published after his death in 1922.

During the war, he served in the 272nd Infantry Regiment, was seriously wounded in 1916, and later returned to military service. He died on July 23, 1918, near Sauvillers in the Somme, and is remembered in France as mort pour la France.