Bonnefoy was born in
Tours,
Indre-et-Loire, the son of Marius Elie Bonnefoy, a railroad worker, and Hélène Maury, a teacher. He studied
mathematics and
philosophy at the
Universities of Poitiers and the
Sorbonne in Paris. Bonnefoy's style is remarkable for the deceptive simplicity of its vocabulary. Bonnefoy's work has been translated into English by, among others,
Emily Grosholz,
Galway Kinnell, John Naughton,
Alan Baker, Hoyt Rogers, Antony Rudolf,
Beverley Bie Brahic and Richard Stamelmann. In 1967 he joined with
André du Bouchet,
Gaëtan Picon, and
Louis-René des Forêts to found ''
L'éphémère'', a journal of art and
literature. Commenting on his work, Bonnefoy has said: He taught literature at a number of universities in Europe and in the USA:
Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts (1962–64); Centre Universitaire, Vincennes (1969–1970);
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; Princeton University, New Jersey; University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut;
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut;
University of Geneva;
University of Nice (1973–1976);
University of Provence, Aix (1979–1981); and
Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he was made an honorary member of the Academy of the Humanities and Sciences. In 1981, following the death of
Roland Barthes, he was given the chair of comparative study of poetry at the
Collège de France. Bonnefoy died on 1 July 2016 at the age of 93 in Paris. President
François Hollande stated of Bonnefoy on his death that he would be remembered for "elevating our language to its supreme degree of precision and beauty". ==Awards and honours==