Arthur Cravan

Arthur Cravan (born May 22, 1887, Lausanne, Switzerland) was known as a pugilist, a poet, a larger-than-life character, and an idol of the Dada and Surrealism movements. His real name was Fabian Avenarius Lloyd, the second son of Otho Holland Lloyd and Hélène Clara St. Clair. He had a brother, Otho, born 1885. His father’s sister, Constance Mary Lloyd, was married to the Irish poet Oscar Wilde. He changed his name to Cravan in 1912 in honour of his fiancée Renée Bouchet, who was born in the small village of Cravans in the department of Charente-Maritime in western France. Why he chose the name Arthur remains unclear.

He was last seen at Salina Cruz, Mexico in 1918 and most likely drowned in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico in November 1918.