Cesaire, Aime, say ZEHR, eh MAY (1913-...), is a French-speaking West Indian poet and playwright. He was cofounder, with Leopold Senghor, who later became president of Senegal, and Leon Damas, a French Guianese poet, of negritude, a black African literary movement that lasted from the 1930's through the 1950's. Cesaire supported the decolonization of French African colonies in the 1950's and 1960's. He also became active in Communist Party politics.