Emile Verhaeren

Emile Verhaeren studied at Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968), Old University of Leuven and Sint-Barbaracollege. The recorded working language is French. Positions recorded include Poet of Belgium. Work by Emile Verhaeren is recorded in the collections of Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Distinctions recorded are Taylorian Lecture.

• Name — Émile Verhaeren • Born — 21 May 1855 • Birthplace — Sint-Amands, Belgium • Died — 27 November 1916 • Place of death — Rouen, French Third Republic • Education — College of Saint Barbara, Ghent • Alma Mater — Catholic University of Louvain • Occupation — Poet, writer, art critic • Known for — Symbolism • Notable Works — Les Villes tentaculaires, 1895 • Illustration — Émile Verhaeren in 1910

Émile Verhaeren was born into a middle-class French-speaking family in Sint-Amands, a rural commune in Belgium's Province of Antwerp, although he also spoke the local Dutch dialect. At the age of eleven, he was sent to a strict boarding school in Ghent run by Jesuits, the Jesuit College of Sainte Barbe, where he formed a friendship with Georges Rodenbach. He then studied law at the then French-speaking Catholic University of Leuven, where he produced his first literary efforts in a student paper, La Semaine (The Week), which he edited in conjunction with the opera singer Ernest van Dyck. La Semaine was suppressed by the authorities, as was its successor, Le Type, where his colleagues included Max Waller, Iwan Gilkin and Albert Giraud. His like-minded acquaintances later became his collaborators on the revolutionary artistic magazine La Jeune Belgique (Young Belgium). Having earned his law degree, he trained from 1881 to 1884 under Edmond Picard, a renowned criminal lawyer and influential figure in the Brussels artistic scene. Verhaeren came into frequent contact with young, radical writers and artists at a time of artistic renewal. He spoke in only two court cases before deciding to dedicate his life to poetry and literature.

Émile Verhaeren died on 27 November 1916 at Rouen station; he fell under a moving train while trying to board it. St. Amands, his native city, has dedicated a museum to this giant of Belgian literature, showing many original manuscripts of his works and letters along with works of his artistic friends Théo van Rysselberghe, Léon Spilliaert, Constantin Meunier, Paul Signac and Ossip Zadkine. Verhaeren was the cousin of the painter Alfred Verhaeren.

• Les Flamandes, 1883 • Les Moines, 1886 • Les Soirs, 1888 • Les Débâcles, 1888 • Les Flambeaux noirs, 1891 • Les Campagnes hallucinées, 1893 • Les Villes tentaculaires, 1895 • Les Heures claires, 1896 • Les Visages de la vie, 1899 • Les Forces tumultueuses, 1902 • La Multiple Splendeur, 1906 • Les Rythmes souverains, 1910 • Les Ailes rouges de la guerre, 1916 • Les Flammes hautes, 1917 [written in 1914] • Belle Chair, 1931 [published posthumously]

Indexed under French Literature and Poetry, Literary Analysis and Cultural Studies, Historical and Literary Studies, Historical and Scientific Studies, Diverse Cultural and Historical Studies. Recorded as having received Taylorian Lecture.