Raymond Queneau was a poet and writer whose intense interest in mathematics flavored many of his works. He cofounded an artistic group called Ouvroir de litterature potentielle (Oulipo--Workshop of Potential Literature) that still influences artists by imposing mathematical rules as game-like constraints on the generation of text. Some of Queneau's best-known works are Exercises de style (Exercises in Style) and the popular novel Zazie dans le Metro (1959), which director Louis Malle made into a movie in 1960. Many critics believe Queneau was one of the most important authors of the mid-20th century.

The son of hat-makers, Queneau was born in La Havre, France on February 21, 1903. He was reportedly fascinated by mathematics from an early age. Queneau attended the city's elementary and secondary schools, graduating in 1920, and in 1921 began studying at the University of Paris. This was roughly the start of his surrealist period, when he revealed a black...