Michel Leiris was born on April 20, 1901 in Paris, France. He was a writer, known for Bullfight (1951) and Picasso, romancero du picador (1961). He was married to Louise Godon. He died on September 30, 1990 in Saint-Hilaire, Essonne, France.
French surrealist writer and ethnographer, he was the witness for his friend Georges Bataille at his wedding with Sylvia Bataille.
Friend with painter André Masson, he became the son in law of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler and thus became member of the modern artists group that were around this major art dealer.
As an ethnographer, he took part in the Mission Dakar-Djibouti ( 1931-1933) and wrote L'Afrique fantôme about it.