Maurice Gilliams

Maurice, Baron Gilliams (Antwerp, 20 July 1900-Antwerp, 18 October 1982) was a Flemish writer and poet. He was the son of printer Frans Gilliams, and he learned to be a typographer. On 27 August 1935, he married Gabriëlle Baelemans, but they separated soon thereafter, although a divorce would not take place until 1976 due to the resistance of Gabriëlle. On 26 April 1976 he married Maria Eliza Antonia de Raeymaekers.

He worked for the company of his father and he lectured on typography at the Vakschool voor Kunstambachten of Roger Avermaete in Antwerp. In 1947, ha became a member of the Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde of which he became director in 1954. In September 1955, he started working as scientific librarian of the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp. From 1960 until 1975, he was secreatry of the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde in Ghent.

His breakthrough as writer came with his autobiographical novel Elias of het gevecht met de nachtegalen (E: Elias or the fighting with the nightingales) at the age of 35.

Maurice Gilliams always wrote autobiographical, generally concerning his failed marriage and his lost youth. He wrote both to poems and prose. After his death the Maurice Gilliamsprijs was established. In the garden of the Elzenveld in Antwerp stands a statue of him by Rik Poot.

Bibliography

• De man in de mist (?)
• In memoriam (?)
• Libera nos, Domine (?)
• Landelijk solo (1927, poems)
• Eenzame vroegte (1928, poems)
• De flesch in zee (1929, poems)
• Het Maria-leven (1933, poems)
• Oefentocht in het luchtledige (1933, short stories)
• Het verleden van Columbus (1933, poems)
• Verzen (1936, poems)
• Elias of het gevecht met de nachtegalen (1936, novel)
• Vlaamsche lyriek (1830-1890 (1937, essay)
• Het land van Waes en Polders (1938, prose)
• Gregoria, of : Een huwelijk op Elseneur : exoterische memorabilia (1938)
• Inleiding tot de idee Henri De Braekeleer (1941, essay)
• De man voor het venster (1943, notes)
• De man in de mist (verhaal uit "Oefentocht in het luchtledige") (in "Meesters der Nederlandse vertelkunst", 1949)
• Een bezoek aan het prinsengraf, essay over de dichter Paul van Ostaijen (1952, essay)
• Winter te Antwerpen (1953, prose)
• De kunst van de fuga (1953, diary and essays)
• Tien poems (1954, poems)
• Vita Brevis I (1955, collected works)
• Vita Brevis II (1957, collected works)
• Vita Brevis III (1958, collected works)
• Emmanuel de Bom (1958, monography)
• Bronnen der slapeloosheid (1958, poems)
• Vita Brevis IV (1959, collected works)
• Gedichten 1919-1958 (1965)

Awards

• 1969 - Constantijn Huygensprijs for his entire oeuvre
• 1972 - Driejaarlijkse Staatsprijs for his career as a writer
• 1980 - Doctor honoris causa at the University of Ghent
• 1980 - Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren

See also

• Flemish literature

Source

• Maurice Gilliams (in Dutch)
• Maurice Gilliams (in Dutch)
• Maurice Gilliams (in Dutch)

Persondata
Name	Gilliams,Maurice
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1900
Place of birth
Date of death	1982
Place of death