Julien Torma
Julien Torma (Cambrai, 6 April 1902 – Tyrol, 17 February 1933) was credited as a French writer, playwright and poet who was part of the Dadaist movement. Torma disappeared in the mountains of the Tyrol at the age of 30. Due to his secretive behaviour and the impossibility of verifying the supposed details of his life (i.e. no living or known family members and every writer he supposedly knew having died long before the publication of his posthumous books – if they are by the author of the early books, no professional career, no fixed address, his body having never been recovered, etc.), it has been suggested by some, including Jean-François Jeandillou, that Torma's existence may be fictitious.
Julien Torma
- Name
- Julien Torma
- Born
- 6 April 1902
- Birthplace
- Cambrai, France
- Occupation
- Poet, writer, playwright
- Known for
- Possibly never existing
- Died
- 1933 · County of Tyrol.
- Nationality
- France
- Languages
- French
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Julien Torma (Cambrai, 6 April 1902 – Tyrol, 17 February 1933) was credited as a French writer, playwright and poet who was part of the Dadaist movement. Torma disappeared in the mountains of the Tyrol at the age of 30. Due to his secretive behaviour and the impossibility of verifying the supposed details of his life (i.e. no living or known family members and every writer he supposedly knew having died long before the publication of his posthumous books – if they are by the author of the early books, no professional career, no fixed address, his body having never been recovered, etc.), it has been suggested by some, including Jean-François Jeandillou, that Torma's existence may be fictitious.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Julien Torma. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q3087516 · wikipedia · Julien Torma
In this article
Biography
Biography
His purported birthday, 6 April, is marked as "the birthday of pataphysics" in the "pataphysics calendar". The real writer who authored the first four publications and Porte battantes would have had to be using a pen name, as, according to the French institute for statistics INSEE, only three Torma births have been recorded in France since 1891, all between 1941 and 1965.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Julien Torma • Born — 6 April 1902 • Birthplace — Cambrai, France • Disappeared Place — Tyrol, Austria • Occupation — Poet, writer, playwright • Known for — Possibly never existing
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Cambrai.
Birth place
County of Tyrol.
Death place
Publications
Publications
• The Obscure Lamp (1919) • The Big Troche (1925) • Cuts (1926) • Euphorisms (1926)
Posthumous publications
Posthumous publications
• Lebordelamer (1955) • Le Bétrou (1955) • Porte Battante (1963) • Grabuge (1998) • Definitively incomplete writings (2003)
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3087516: Julien Torma
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Julien Torma”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.PataKosmos. Julien Torma Patakosmos.
- 2.Michel Corvin. Essai d'interprétation d'une mystification Littéraire.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
38,960 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Julien de Lallande PoydrasAuthor
- Julien GracqAuthor
- Julien GreenAuthor
- Julien Offray de La MettrieAuthor
- Julienne SalvatAuthor
- Juliet H. Lewis CampbellAuthor
- Julieta Paredes CarvajalAuthor
- Julieta ValeroAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Julien Torma?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.