Jan Frans Willems
Encyclopedia
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...
writer and father of the Flemish movement
Flemish movement
The Flemish Movement is a popular term used to describe the political movement for emancipation and greater autonomy of the Belgian region of Flanders, for protection of the Dutch language, and for the over-all protection of Flemish culture and history....
.
Willems was born in the Belgian city of Boechout
Boechout
Boechout is a municipality of Belgium located in the Flemish province of Antwerp.The municipality comprises the towns of Boechout proper and Vremde. On January 1, 2006 Boechout had a total population of 12,090. The total area is 20.66 km² which gives a population density of 585 inhabitants per...
, while that was under French
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
occupation. He started his career in the office of a notary in Antwerp.
He devoted his leisure to literature, and in 1810 he gained a prize for poetry with an ode in celebration of the peace of Tilsit. He hailed with enthusiasm the foundation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
, and the revival of Flemish literature; and he published a number of spirited and eloquent writings in support of the claims of the native tongue of the Netherlands.
His political sympathies were with the Orange party at the revolution of 1830
Belgian Revolution
The Belgian Revolution was the conflict which led to the secession of the Southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium....
, and these views led him into trouble with the provisional government
Provisional Government of Belgium
The Provisional Government was formed as a revolutionary committee of notables during the Belgian Revolution on September 24, 1830 at the Brussels City Hall under the name of Administrative Commission....
. Willems, however, was soon recognized as the unquestioned leader of the Flemish popular movement, the chief plank in whose platform he made the complete equality of the languages in the government and the law courts. He died at 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...
in 1846.
Among his writings, which were very numerous, the most important were:
- De Kunsten en Wetenschappen (1816)
- Aen de Belgen, Aux Belges (1818)
- Historisch Onderzoek naer den oorsprong en den waren naem der openbare plaetsen en andere oudheden van de stad Antwerpen (1828)
Also, several learned critical editions of old Flemish texts.
Publications
Biographies of Willems have been written by Ferdinand Augustijn SnellaertFerdinand Augustijn Snellaert
Ferdinand Augustijn Snellaert was a Flemish writer. He studied medicine at the University of Utrecht and became officer of health in the Dutch army . After his dismissal, he graduated in medicine at the University of Ghent , and became a general practitioner in Ghent...
(Ghent, 1847) and Max Rooses
Max Rooses
Max Rooses was a Belgian writer, literature critic, and curator of the Plantin-Moretus Museum at Antwerp.Rooses was born in Antwerp, and went to school there up to 1858, after which he attended the University of Liège to study philosophy and literature...
(Antwerp, 1874). (New International Encyclopedia
New International Encyclopedia
The New International Encyclopedia was an American encyclopedia first published in 1902 by Dodd, Mead and Company. It descended from the International Cyclopaedia and was updated in 1906, 1914 and 1926.-History:...
). Also published by Rooses, Julius Vuylsteke
Julius Vuylsteke
Julius Vuylsteke was a Belgian liberal politician and writer. He started his career as a lawyer, but later opened a bookshop. As a liberal Flemish politician, he founded the liberal association 't zal wel gaan, and he played an important role in the Flemish movement...
, and Anton Bergmann
Anton Bergmann
Anton Bergmann was a Belgian writer and a liberal Flemish activist. Already during his youth he was fond of Dutch literature, and together with Julius Vuylsteke, he was a member of 't zal wel gaan, a Flemish cultural and liberal organization...
is Jan Frans Willems, (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...
, 1893).