Biography

After his death, Westerlinck left behind an extensive library. During his lifetime he collected more than 8,000 books, a large part of which he bequeathed to the Leuven University Library. He owned material on, among others, Guido Gezelle, Paul van Ostaijen, Willem F. Hermans, Goethe and Kafka.

After completing secondary school, Aerts studied for the priesthood at the major seminary in Mechelen, where he was ordained a priest in 1937. From 1937 to 1941, he studied Philosophy and Literature at the Catholic University of Leuven. He obtained a degree in Germanic philology with a dissertation on The Psychology of Schwermut in Art.

His "Wereldbeschouwing van August Vermeylen (Worldview of August Vermeylen) was awarded both the five-yearly state prize for criticism and essay (1956-1960) and the Prize of the Flemish Provinces (1960).

In 1952, he received his doctorate in Philosophy and Literature with his dissertation "The Psychological Figure of Karel van de Woestijne as a Poet." He was appointed emeritus professor in 1978.

The Catholic University of Nijmegen awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1974.