Biography

Theatre interested Herman Teirlinck most. He wrote plays such as De vertraagde film (E: Slowed down movie) (1922), Ik dien (E: I serve) (1924) in De man zonder lijf (E: The man without a body) (1925). Other plays are De ekster en de galg (E: The magpie and the gallow) (1937) and Ave (1938) in which he experimented with modern techniques to involve the public more in the action.

In his last literary period, which started with the novel Maria Speermalie in 1940, he approached existentialism. Also the free passionate life of people, with its refined over-civilization and its contradicting extremes, he took into consideration.

In 1917 he became a member of the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde (E: Society for Dutch Literature) in Leiden, and in 1919, he became a member of the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde (E:Royal Flemish Academy for Language - and Literature).

He went to high school at the Koninklijk Athenaeum (E: royal athenaeum) in Brussels, where he studied Greek and Latin. One of his teachers was Hyppoliet Meert, a Flamingant and language purist.

In 1920 he became teacher of Flemish at the Royal Court of Belgium; in 1933 Private Councillor of King Albert I; in 1934 Councillor for Art and Science of King Leopold III and in 1951 Honorary Councillor for Art and Science of King Baudouin I, in Dutch King Boudewijn I.