Cyriel Buysse
Encyclopedia
Cyrillus Gustave Emile "Cyriel", Baron Buysse (siˈriˑl ˈbœy̆sə; 20 September 1859 – 25 July 1932) was a Flemish
naturalist
author and playwright. He also wrote under following pseudonyms: Louis Bonheyden, Prosper Van Hove and Robert Palmer.
, Belgium
in a well-to-do family. Before he could complete his studies at the Atheneum in Ghent
, he joined the family's chicory
factory at his father's wish.
At the suggestion of his aunt Virginie Loveling
, herself an author, he started writing when he was twenty-six. When his father found out that he dated a girl he met in the local bar, he was told to leave the ancestral home. Between 1886 and 1896 he emigrated
to the United States
several times, but he returned more disillusioned each time. The written account of his travels is known as Twee Herinneringen uit Amerika (Two memories from America), written in 1888.
Buysse became known as a naturalist
writer in the tradition of Stijn Streuvels
, Emile Zola
and Guy de Maupassant
. Although he had been educated in French, which was common for sons of wealthy Flemish families in that era, most of his work would be in Dutch. His writing is characterised by a deep sympathy for the common man, whose life he vividly and realistically describes.
In 1893 he co-edited the literary periodical Van Nu en Straks
(On Now and Soon) together with Prosper Van Langendonck, August Vermeylen
en Emmanuel De Bom, but left soon afterwards following an argument. In the same year, he wrote his first novel Het recht van den sterkste (The Law of the Jungle).
Buysse married the Dutch widow Nelly Dyserinck in 1896 and spent winters in The Hague
in the Netherlands
, where his son René Cyriel was born in 1897, while staying at his rural estate in Afsnee
, Belgium during summer.
In 1903, he co-founded another literary magazine, Groot Nederland together with Louis Couperus
en Willem Gerard van Nouhuys which he continued to edit until his death.
During the German occupation of Belgium in the first World War, Buysse remained in the Netherlands. He became an active contributor to the newspaper De Vlaamsche Stem (The Flemisch Voice). In 1918, after the Armistice, he returned to Belgium where his talent was now widely recognized: he received the state prize for literature in 1921, and became a member of the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde (Royal Flemish Academy of Language and Literature) in 1930. In 1932 he was ennobled by King Albert I
to the rank of baron
, which was then a rare honour for a writer, and ironic given the tone and subject of his books.
His naturalist play The van Paemel Family (1902) is still being performed regularly. It has also been turned into a movie in 1986.
Buysse died on 25 July 1932 in Afsnee
, Belgium.
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
naturalist
Naturalism (literature)
Naturalism was a literary movement taking place from the 1880s to 1940s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character...
author and playwright. He also wrote under following pseudonyms: Louis Bonheyden, Prosper Van Hove and Robert Palmer.
Biography
Buysse was born on 20 September 1859 in NeveleNevele
Nevele is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Hansbeke, Landegem, Merendree, Nevele proper, Poesele and Vosselare. On January 1, 2006 Nevele had a total population of 11,217...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
in a well-to-do family. Before he could complete his studies at the Atheneum in Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
, he joined the family's chicory
Chicory
Common chicory, Cichorium intybus, is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Various varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons , or for roots , which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive. It is also...
factory at his father's wish.
At the suggestion of his aunt Virginie Loveling
Virginie Loveling
Virginie Loveling was a Flemish author of poetry, novels, essays and children's stories. She also wrote under the pseudonym W.E.C Walter.- Biography :...
, herself an author, he started writing when he was twenty-six. When his father found out that he dated a girl he met in the local bar, he was told to leave the ancestral home. Between 1886 and 1896 he emigrated
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
several times, but he returned more disillusioned each time. The written account of his travels is known as Twee Herinneringen uit Amerika (Two memories from America), written in 1888.
Buysse became known as a naturalist
Naturalism (literature)
Naturalism was a literary movement taking place from the 1880s to 1940s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character...
writer in the tradition of Stijn Streuvels
Stijn Streuvels
Stijn Streuvels, born Franciscus Petrus Maria Lateur, is a Flemish writer. He was born on 3 October 1871 in Heule, Kortrijk, and died in Ingooigem, Anzegem on 15 August 1969 at the age of 98. In 1905 he married Alida Staelens. They had 4 children: Paula , Paul , Dina and Isa...
, Emile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
and Guy de Maupassant
Guy de Maupassant
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents....
. Although he had been educated in French, which was common for sons of wealthy Flemish families in that era, most of his work would be in Dutch. His writing is characterised by a deep sympathy for the common man, whose life he vividly and realistically describes.
In 1893 he co-edited the literary periodical Van Nu en Straks
Van Nu en Straks
Van Nu en Straks was a Flemish literary and cultural magazine that was founded in 1893 by August Vermeylen. With a cover designed by Henry van de Velde, this magazine served as a vehicle for a Flemish literary revival and was associated with a heterogeneous group of writers and artists...
(On Now and Soon) together with Prosper Van Langendonck, August Vermeylen
August Vermeylen
August Vermeylen was a Belgian writer and literature critic. In 1893 he founded the journal Van Nu en Straks . He studied history at the Université Libre de Bruxelles , and became a professor of literature and of art history at the ULB...
en Emmanuel De Bom, but left soon afterwards following an argument. In the same year, he wrote his first novel Het recht van den sterkste (The Law of the Jungle).
Buysse married the Dutch widow Nelly Dyserinck in 1896 and spent winters in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, where his son René Cyriel was born in 1897, while staying at his rural estate in Afsnee
Afsnee
Afsnee is a village in the Belgian province of East-Flanders. It is part of the urban area of the province's capital city Ghent.Its population is 1,445 . It is situated at the banks of the river Lys....
, Belgium during summer.
In 1903, he co-founded another literary magazine, Groot Nederland together with Louis Couperus
Louis Couperus
Louis Marie-Anne Couperus was a Dutch novelist and poet during the Belle Époque. There is a wide variety of genres in his oeuvre, which contains poetry, fairy tales, psychological novels, and historical novels...
en Willem Gerard van Nouhuys which he continued to edit until his death.
During the German occupation of Belgium in the first World War, Buysse remained in the Netherlands. He became an active contributor to the newspaper De Vlaamsche Stem (The Flemisch Voice). In 1918, after the Armistice, he returned to Belgium where his talent was now widely recognized: he received the state prize for literature in 1921, and became a member of the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde (Royal Flemish Academy of Language and Literature) in 1930. In 1932 he was ennobled by King Albert I
Albert I of Belgium
Albert I reigned as King of the Belgians from 1909 until 1934.-Early life:Born Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad in Brussels, he was the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, and his wife, Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen...
to the rank of baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
, which was then a rare honour for a writer, and ironic given the tone and subject of his books.
His naturalist play The van Paemel Family (1902) is still being performed regularly. It has also been turned into a movie in 1986.
Buysse died on 25 July 1932 in Afsnee
Afsnee
Afsnee is a village in the Belgian province of East-Flanders. It is part of the urban area of the province's capital city Ghent.Its population is 1,445 . It is situated at the banks of the river Lys....
, Belgium.
Books
- Guusje en Zieneken (1887)
- Twee herinneringen uit Amerika (1888)
- Beter laat dan nooit (1891)
- Het huwelijk van neef Perseyn (1893)
- Het recht van den sterkste (novel 1893)
- De biezenstekker (1894)
- Sursum corda! (1894)
- Wroeging (1895)
- Mea culpa (1896)
- Op 't Blauwhuis (novel 1897)
- De zwarte kost (1898)
- Schoppenboer (novel 1898)
- Uit Vlaanderen (essays 1899)
- Te lande (bundel 1900)
- Een Leeuw van Vlaanderen (1900)
- Van arme menschen (1901)
- Daarna (1903)
- Aan 't strand (1903)
- Tusschen Leie en Schelde (essays 1904)
- In de natuur (bundel 1905)
- Het Verdriet van meneer Ongena (1906)
- Het leven van Rozeke van Daelen (novel 1906)
- Het Bolleken (novel 1906)
- Lente (essays 1907)
- Het volle leven (novel 1908)
- Ik Herinner mij (essays 1909)
- De eenzame (1909)
- Het "ezelken", wat niet vergeten was (novel 1910)
- De vroolijke tocht (travel essay 1911)
- Stemmingen (essays 1911)
- Levensleer (novel co-authored with Virginie Loveling 1911)
- De nachtelijke aanranding (novel 1912)
- Per auto (travel essay 1913)
- Van hoog en laag (essays 1913)
- Oorlogsvizioenen (essays 1915)
- Zomerleven (1915)
- Een vroolijk drietal (essays 1916)
- Van een verloren zomer (1917)
- De roman van den schaatsenrijder (1918)
- De strijd (1918)
- De twee pony's (essays 1919)
- Plus-que-parfait (novel 1919)
- Zooals het was... (novel 1921)
- Uit de bron (bundel 1922)
- De Laatste Ronde (travel essay 1923)
- Tantes (novel 1924)
- Typen (1925)
- Uleken (novel 1926)
- Kerels (essays 1927)
- Dierenliefde (essays 1928)
- De schandpaal (essays 1928)
- Wat wij in Spanje en Marokko zagen (essays 1929)
- Uit het leven (short stories 1930)
- Twee werelden (1931)
- Rivièra-impressies (travel essays 1932)
- Verzameld werk (7 volumes) (1974–1982)
Plays
- De plaatsvervangende vrederechter (1895)
- Driekoningenavond (1899)
- Maria (1900)
- Het gezin van Paemel (1903)
- De landverhuizers (1904)
- De sociale misdaad (1904)
- Se non é vero... (1905)
- Het recht (1908)
- Sususususut (1921)
- Jan Bron (1921)
Movies
- Het gezin van Paemel was filmed for television in 1986 (director: Paul Cammermans, script: Hugo ClausHugo ClausHugo Maurice Julien Claus was a leading Belgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms. Claus' literary contributions spanned the genres of drama, the novel, and poetry; he also left a legacy as a painter and film director...
en Jan BlokkerJan BlokkerJan Andries Blokker, Sr. was a Dutch journalist, columnist, publicist, writer, and amateur historian. In The Netherlands, Blokker was best known for his columns in De Volkskrant, which he wrote between 1968 and 2006....
)
External links
- Elslander, A. van. 1974. ‘Inleiding’. In: Cyriel Buysse. Verzameld Werk. Brussel: A. Manteau
- Marc Galle. 1966. Cyriel Buysse. Brugge: Desclée de Brouwer.
- Cyriel Buysse (Dutch)