Peter Broome obituary

Peter Broome, who has died aged 81, was a gifted teacher, communicator and literary critic who specialised in modern French poetry, writing important books on Charles Baudelaire, Henri Michaux and other literary figures. He was also a poet and collaborated with a number of French contemporaries, translating the work of André Frénaud and Louise Herlin.

Peter was born in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, to Walter Broome, a warehouseman, and his wife, Lily (nee Jepson). He attended the town’s King Edward VII grammar school and after a BA and a PhD in French at Nottingham University, in 1962 was appointed to a lectureship in French at Monash University in Australia.