Henri "Hendrik" Conscience (3 December 1812 Antwerp - 10 September 1883 Elsene) was a Belgian writer. His father was French and his mother was Flemish. He wrote in Dutch after the secession from the Netherlands in 1830 left Belgium a mostly French speaking country.
His mother died in 1820. The boy and his younger brother had no other friend than their grim and somewhat sinister father. In 1826 Pierre Conscience married again, this time to a widow much younger than himself, Anna Catherina Bogaerts. Soon after his second marriage Pierre sold his shop and moved to the Kempen region. Conscience often describes this land in his books. It is the flat land that stretches between Antwerp and Venlo.
At the age of seventeen Hendrik left his father's house to become a tutor in Antwerp. His studies were soon interrupted by the Revolution of 1830. He volunteered in the Belgian revolutionary army. In 1837 he left the service and returned to civilian life.
His poems, written while he was a soldier, were all in French. He received no pension when he was discharged. He decided to write a Flemish book for sale. He wrote a series of stories set during the Dutch Revolt, with the title "In 't Wonderjaar 1566" (published Ghent, 1837).
His father thought it so vulgar of his son to write a book in Flemish that he turned him out of doors. Soon people of standing, amongst them the painter Wappers, showed interest in the unfortunate young man. Wappers even gave him a suit of clothes and eventually presented him to King Leopold. Leopold ordered the Wonderjaar to be added to the libraries of every Belgian school. It was with the patronage of Leopold I that Conscience published his second book, "Fantasy", in the same year 1837.
"The Lion of Flanders" was followed by "How to become a Painter" (1843), "What a Mother can Suffer" (1843), "Siska van Roosemael" (1844), "Lambrecht Hensmans" (1847), "Jacob van Artevelde" (1849), and "The Conscript" (1850).
In 1845 Conscience was made a knight of the Order of Leopold. Writing in Flemish had stopped being seen as vulgar.
In 1845 Conscience published a History of Belgium on request by King Leopold I. "Blind Rosa" (1850), "Rikketikketak" (1851), "The Decayed Gentleman" (1851), and "The Miser" (1853) are among the most important of the long list of his novels. These had an instant effect upon more recent fiction, and Conscience had many imitators.
In 1855 translations of his books began to appear in English, French, German and Italian. He continued to make novels with great regularity. His publications amounted to nearly eighty in number. He was by now the most eminent of the citizens of Antwerp. His 70th birthday was celebrated with public festivities. After a long illness he died at his house in Antwerp.
Georges Simenon
Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 200 novels and many short works. Simenon is best known as the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret.
Suzanne Lilar
Suzanne, Baroness Lilar (née Suzanne Verbist) (21 May 1901 - 12 December 1992) was a Flemish Belgian essayist, novelist, and playwright. She wrote in French. She was the wife of the Belgian Minister of Justice Albert Lilar and mother of the writer Françoise Mallet-Joris and the art historian Marie Fredericq-Lilar.
She was a member of the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature from 1952 to 1992.
In 1919 Lilar attended the State University of Ghent. She studied philosophy and was the first woman to receive a Law degree in 1925. She moved to Antwerp where she became the first woman lawyer. In 1929 she married the lawyer Albert Lilar who would later become a Minister of Justice and Minister of State. After the death of her husband in 1976, she left Antwerp and moved to Brussels in 1977.
Lilar began her literary career as a journalist. She reported on Republican Spain for the newspaper "L'Indépendance belge" in 1931. She later became a playwright with "Le Burlador" (1946). It was an original reinterpretation of the myth of Don Juan. It was told from the female perspective. She wrote two more plays, "Tous les chemins mènent au ciel" (1947), a theological drama set in a 14th-century convent, and "Le Roi lépreux" (1951), a play about the Crusades.
Amélie Nothomb
Amélie Nothomb (born Fabienne-Claire on 9 July 1966) is a Belgian writer who writes in French.
Amélie Nothomb was born in Etterbeek, Belgium to Belgian diplomats. She lived in Japan, then in China, New York, Bangladesh, Burma, Coventry and Laos.
Nothomb's first novel, "Hygiène de l'assassin", was published in 1992. Since then, she has published about one novel per year, including "Les Catilinaires" (1995), "Fear and Trembling" (1999) and "Métaphysique des tubes" (2000, published in English as "The Character of Rain"). She has been awarded many prizes, including the 1999 Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française, the Prix René-Fallet, and the 1993 Prix Alain-Fournier.
Unless otherwise stated, all works were originally published in French by Éditions Albin Michel.
Maurice Maeterlinck
Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck, also called "Comte (Count) Maeterlinck" from 1932, (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949) was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist. He wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. The main themes in his work are death and the meaning of life. His plays are an important part of the Symbolist movement.
He finished his law studies at the University of Ghent in 1885. He then spent a few months in Paris, France. His first play, "Princess Maleine", was well received in August 1890.
He had a relationship with the singer and actress Georgette Leblanc from 1895 till 1918. On 15 February 1919 Maeterlinck married Renée Dahon. She was actress he met during a rehearsal of "The Blue Bird" in 1910.
When Germany invaded Belgium in 1914, Maeterlink wished to join the French Foreign Legion. His application was denied due to his age.
In 1919 he accepted an invitation to the United States. He worked with Samuel Goldwyn on movies but did not find success.
He was made a count by Albert I, King of the Belgians in 1932.
He returned to Nice after the war on 10 August 1947. In 1948, the French Academy awarded him the Medal for the French Language. He died in Nice on 6 May 1949 after suffering a heart attack.
Franco-Belgian comics
Franco-Belgian comics are comics that are made for Belgian and French readers. These countries have a long tradition in comics and comic books. There they are known as "BD"s, an abbreviation of "bandes dessinées". This means "drawn strips" in French. Many other European comics, especially Italian comics, are strongly influenced by Franco-Belgian comics. In Europe, the French language is spoken not only in France but also by about 40% of the population of Belgium and about 20% of the population of Switzerland.
While hundreds of comic series have been made in the Franco-Belgian group, some are more notable than others. Most of those listed are aimed at younger readers:
Bunyip
The bunyip is a mythical creature from Australian mythology. It is said to live in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. The bunyip is found in traditional aboriginal beliefs and stories from many parts of Australia, although it is called by several different names in different language groups. These include "kianpraty" along the Murrumbidgee, "wowee" in the Hunter Valley, "wee waa" in the Narrandera region, as well as many other names. The name "bunyip" comes from the Wemba-Wemba language of southeastern Australia. It is normally translated today as "devil" or "evil spirit".