Pierre Nothomb
Encyclopedia
Pierre, Baron Nothomb was a Belgian
writer and right-wing politician. Well known for his varied output of fiction Nothomb also came to prominence with a number of reactionary and near-fascist movements before the Second World War. In the post-war era Nothomb continued to be active in politics, albeit as an advocate of an ever closer Europe
.
into one of Belgium's leading families and was a descendant of Jean-Baptiste Nothomb
. Nothomb studied at the Catholic University of Leuven
from which he graduated with his doctorate in politics in 1910. By the age of 20 he was a regular author for Catholic
journals. During World War I
Nothomb worked as a propaganda writer for the Belgian government, producing such works as Les Barbares et la Belgique, La Belgique martyre, Le Roi Albert and Villes meurtries de Belgique.
tendency that was influencing Belgian Catholic thinking at the time Nothomb and his political ally Pierre Daye
instead looked towards a republican nationalism. He set up the Great Belgium Movement during the war and this re-emerged after 1918 as the Comité de politique nationale. This movement made no secret of its desire to see Belgium annex both Luxembourg
and Dutch Limburg
. Initially associated with the Catholic Party
his journal Renaissance nationale became critical of the direction of this party and in 1924 he formed the rightist Action Nationale as a more Maurrasian
alternative. These groups were associated with anti-Semitism
and have been seen as early fascist
movements. He expressed some enthusiasm for corporatism
, although by this time he had also became a staunch monarchist alongside this. Nothomb now came to recognise Enrico Corradini
as his ideological model.
For a time he became associated with Paul Hoornaert
but they split in 1927 when Nothomb returned to the Catholic Party. However during the time of their alliance Nothomb had at his disposal the Jeunesses Nationales, a 3000 strong youth movement that took part in street fights with Belgium's socialist and communist youth groups. Such was the notoriety of this group that Nothomb was given the nickname Napoleon de la Marmaille or "Napoleon of the brats".
Still associated with the Catholic Party by 1931 Nothomb had joined L'Authorité, a highly reactionary non-party group. He would later write the occasional article for Rexist journals but did not commit to this group and also maintained good relations with Verdinaso
leader Joris Van Severen
.
In June 1936 the Provincial Council of Luxembourg province
nominated Nothomb to the Belgian Senate
. Barring a brief absence in 1939 Nothomb served in this body until 1966. He transferred to the Arlon seat in 1949, by which time he had joined the Christian Social Party
. As a post-war Senator he continued to advocate the expansion of Belgium's borders but became convinced that the most realistic method of achieving this would be through a wider programme of European integration
which he publicly endorsed.
and a novelist. In his poetic works Nothomb was noted for his mystic symbolism, and his most celebrated works include L'Arc-en-ciel (1909), Marisabelle (1920), Ans de grâce (1958), Élégie du solstice (1959) and L'Été d'octobre (1963). As a novelist his two historical works Risquons-tout (1926) and Les Dragons de Latour (1934) are amongst his most well-known. Other poetic and fictional works were inspired by the Bible
, notably Vie d'Adam (1929), L'Égrégore (1945) and Le Roi David (1960). He also dabbled in science fiction
, as evidenced by his 1922 novel La Rédemption de Mars concerning two astronauts visiting Mars
. A further series of novels, such as Le Sens du pays (1930), La Ligne de faîte (1945) and Curieux Personnages (1942) focused on his love of the Ardennes
.
, who eulogised him in Parliament. He was also the father of writer Paul Nothomb, the grandfather of diplomat Patrick Nothomb and politician François Roelants du Vivier
and the great-grandfather of novelist Amélie Nothomb
.
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...
writer and right-wing politician. Well known for his varied output of fiction Nothomb also came to prominence with a number of reactionary and near-fascist movements before the Second World War. In the post-war era Nothomb continued to be active in politics, albeit as an advocate of an ever closer Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Early life
A baron, Nothomb was born in TournaiTournai
Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....
into one of Belgium's leading families and was a descendant of Jean-Baptiste Nothomb
Jean-Baptiste Nothomb
Jean Baptiste, Baron Nothomb was a Belgian statesman and diplomat, the sixth Prime Minister.-Revolution:...
. Nothomb studied at the Catholic University of Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
from which he graduated with his doctorate in politics in 1910. By the age of 20 he was a regular author for Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
journals. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Nothomb worked as a propaganda writer for the Belgian government, producing such works as Les Barbares et la Belgique, La Belgique martyre, Le Roi Albert and Villes meurtries de Belgique.
Politics
Initially eschewing the Action FrançaiseAction Française
The Action Française , founded in 1898, is a French Monarchist counter-revolutionary movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras...
tendency that was influencing Belgian Catholic thinking at the time Nothomb and his political ally Pierre Daye
Pierre Daye
Pierre Daye was a Belgian Nazi collaborator and follower of Rexism, who exiled himself to Juan Peron's Argentina after World War II....
instead looked towards a republican nationalism. He set up the Great Belgium Movement during the war and this re-emerged after 1918 as the Comité de politique nationale. This movement made no secret of its desire to see Belgium annex both Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
and Dutch Limburg
Limburg (Netherlands)
Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
. Initially associated with the Catholic Party
Catholic Party (Belgium)
The first Catholic Party in Belgium was established in 1869 as the Confessional Catholic Party .-History:In 1852 a Union Constitutionelle et Conservatrice was founded in Ghent, in Leuven , and in Antwerp and Brussels in 1858, which were active only during elections...
his journal Renaissance nationale became critical of the direction of this party and in 1924 he formed the rightist Action Nationale as a more Maurrasian
Charles Maurras
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras was a French author, poet, and critic. He was a leader and principal thinker of Action Française, a political movement that was monarchist, anti-parliamentarist, and counter-revolutionary. Maurras' ideas greatly influenced National Catholicism and "nationalisme...
alternative. These groups were associated with anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and have been seen as early fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
movements. He expressed some enthusiasm for corporatism
Corporatism
Corporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common...
, although by this time he had also became a staunch monarchist alongside this. Nothomb now came to recognise Enrico Corradini
Enrico Corradini
Enrico Corradini was an Italian novelist, essayist, journalist and nationalist political figure.-Biography:Corradini was born near Montelupo Fiorentino, Tuscany....
as his ideological model.
For a time he became associated with Paul Hoornaert
Paul Hoornaert
Paul Hoornaert was a Belgian far right political activist. Although a pioneer of fascism in the country he was an opponent of Nazism and died in a Nazi concentration camp....
but they split in 1927 when Nothomb returned to the Catholic Party. However during the time of their alliance Nothomb had at his disposal the Jeunesses Nationales, a 3000 strong youth movement that took part in street fights with Belgium's socialist and communist youth groups. Such was the notoriety of this group that Nothomb was given the nickname Napoleon de la Marmaille or "Napoleon of the brats".
Still associated with the Catholic Party by 1931 Nothomb had joined L'Authorité, a highly reactionary non-party group. He would later write the occasional article for Rexist journals but did not commit to this group and also maintained good relations with Verdinaso
Verdinaso
The Verdinaso was an authoritarian and fascist-inspired political party in Belgium and the Netherlands during the 1930s...
leader Joris Van Severen
Joris Van Severen
Joris Van Severen was a Belgian nationalist politician, ideologist and leader of the national-solidarist Verdinaso.-Early years:...
.
In June 1936 the Provincial Council of Luxembourg province
Luxembourg (Belgium)
Luxembourg is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, France, and the Belgian provinces of Namur and Liège. Its capital is Arlon, in the south-east of the province.It has an area of 4,443 km², making it the largest Belgian province...
nominated Nothomb to the Belgian Senate
Belgian Senate
The Belgian Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parliament.-History and future:...
. Barring a brief absence in 1939 Nothomb served in this body until 1966. He transferred to the Arlon seat in 1949, by which time he had joined the Christian Social Party
Christian Social Party (Belgium, defunct)
The Christian Social Party was a Belgian Catholic political party, which existed from 1945 until 1968.-History:At the end of World War II, on 18–19 August 1945 the Christelijke Volkspartij-Parti Social Chrétien was founded under the presidency of August de Schryver as the successor to the...
. As a post-war Senator he continued to advocate the expansion of Belgium's borders but became convinced that the most realistic method of achieving this would be through a wider programme of European integration
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe...
which he publicly endorsed.
Writing
Throughout his life Nothomb was prolific as both a poetPoet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and a novelist. In his poetic works Nothomb was noted for his mystic symbolism, and his most celebrated works include L'Arc-en-ciel (1909), Marisabelle (1920), Ans de grâce (1958), Élégie du solstice (1959) and L'Été d'octobre (1963). As a novelist his two historical works Risquons-tout (1926) and Les Dragons de Latour (1934) are amongst his most well-known. Other poetic and fictional works were inspired by the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, notably Vie d'Adam (1929), L'Égrégore (1945) and Le Roi David (1960). He also dabbled in science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, as evidenced by his 1922 novel La Rédemption de Mars concerning two astronauts visiting Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. A further series of novels, such as Le Sens du pays (1930), La Ligne de faîte (1945) and Curieux Personnages (1942) focused on his love of the Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
.
Family
He was the father of Charles-Ferdinand NothombCharles-Ferdinand Nothomb
Baron Charles-Ferdinand N.M.P. Nothomb is a French speaking Belgian politician.He is a member of the Humanist Democratic Centre . He served as Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1980 until 1981...
, who eulogised him in Parliament. He was also the father of writer Paul Nothomb, the grandfather of diplomat Patrick Nothomb and politician François Roelants du Vivier
François Roelants du Vivier
François Roelants du Vivier is a Belgian politician and a member of the Mouvement Réformateur. He was a member of the Belgian Senate from 2000 until 2009.-Notes:...
and the great-grandfather of novelist Amélie Nothomb
Amélie Nothomb
Amélie Nothomb is a Belgian writer who writes in French.- Biography :Amélie Nothomb was born in Kobe, Japan to Belgian diplomats. She lived there until she was five years old, and then subsequently lived in China, New York, Bangladesh, Burma, Coventry and Laos...
.