Stijn Streuvels
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. He was born on 3 October 1871 in Heule
Heule
Heule is a submunicipality of the city of Kortrijk in the Belgian province of West-Flandres. The first notion of this settlement date of the year 1111. Heule has a surface of 1169h and has a population of 10,503 . Surrounding villages of Heule are Bissegem, Gullegem, Lendelede and Kuurne...
, Kortrijk
Kortrijk
Kortrijk ; , ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders...
, and died in Ingooigem, Anzegem
Anzegem
Anzegem is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Anzegem proper, Gijzelbrechtegem, Ingooigem, Kaster, Tiegem and Vichte. On January 1, 2006 Anzegem had a total population of 13,940...
on 15 August 1969 at the age of 98. In 1905 he married Alida Staelens. They had 4 children: Paula (1906), Paul (1909), Dina (1916) and Isa (1922). Since 1980 their house became a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
dedicated to Streuvels.
He started writing at a very young age. He was inspired by his uncle (another famous writer) Guido Gezelle
Guido Gezelle
Guido Pieter Theodorus Josephus Gezelle was an influential Flemish language writer and poet and a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium.- Life :...
. Initially his work was published in an insignificant magazine, De jonge Vlaming. Soon he was discovered by the editors of a new magazine, Van Nu en Straks. After their first encounter, Emmanuel de Bom became his mentor
Mentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...
and advised him to publish his work in book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
form.
In 1936 his mentor
Mentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...
failed to convince the Nobel committee to award the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
to Streuvels. He became doctor
Doctor (title)
Doctor, as a title, originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre . It has been used as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread...
honoris causa at the University of Leuven, University of Münster
University of Münster
The University of Münster is a public university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The WWU is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities...
and University of Pretoria
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria is a multi campus public research university located in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa...
.
Streuvels work usually deals with the rural life of poor farmers in Flanders
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...
.
De teleurgang van de waterhoek was made into a film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
titled Mira. Also De Vlaschaard (twice) and De blijde dag were filmed.
Published work
- Lenteleven (1899) - containing De witte zandweg, In den voorwinter, Kerstavond, Slenteren, Op den dool, Van ongroei, Lente, In de vlage, Een pijpe of geen pijpe, 's Zondags, Een ongeluk, Wit leven and Het einde
- Zomerland (1900) - containing Groeikracht, Zomerland, Meimorgen and Het woud
- Zonnetij (1900) - containing De oogst, In 't water, Zomerzondag and Avondrust
- Doodendans (1901) - containing Doodendans, Jongenstijd (in later editions : Kindertijd), In de wijde wereld, Een speeldag, In de weide, Noorsche liederen, Honden and Doodendans 2
- De oogst (1901) - from Zonnetij
- Langs de wegen (1902) - The book Streuvels himself loved the most
- Dagen (1902) - containing De kalfkoe, Naar buiten, Sint-Jan, Sint-Josef, Vrede and Verovering
- Vertellingen van Tolstoï (1902) - 13 narrations of TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, translated from GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... - Minnehandel (1903) - containing Joel, Maagdekensminne, Het zomerlief, De wondertijd, Het levensbedrijf and In de wonnegaarde
- Geluk in 't huishouden (1903) - Book of TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, translated from GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... - Soldatenbloed (1904) - Dramatic play
- Dorpsgeheimen I (1904) - containing De lawine, Bertken en de moordenaars alle twaalf (in later editions : Een beroerde maandag) and Jantje Verdure
- Dorpsgeheimen II (1904) - containing Kinderzieltje, Martje Maertens en de misdadige grafmaker and Op het kasteel
- Openlucht (1905) - containing Zonder dak, Grootmoederken, Een nieuw hoedje, Het duivelstuig and Jeugd
- Stille avonden (1905) - containing Een lustige begraving, Horieneke, Zomerdagen op het vlakke land, Zonneblommen and Ingoyghem
- Grootmoederken (1905) - from Openlucht
- Het uitzicht der dingen (1906) - containing De kwade dagen, De veeprijskamp and De ommegang
- Reinaert de Vos (1907)
- De vlaschaard (1907)
- Twee vertellingen van Tolstoï (1908)
- Tieghem : Het Vlaamse lustoord (1908) - containing De Streek, Sint Aernout, Het oude Tieghem, Het Lustoord and Eene wandeling
- Najaar I (1909) - containing Najaar, De blijde dag (Najaar was later included in Najaar II; from then on Najaar I became De blijde dag)
- Najaar II (1909) - containing De boomen, Jacht, De aanslag (After inclusion of Najaar I, Najaar II Became Najaar)
- Reinaert de Vos voor de Vierschaar van Koning Nobel de leeuw (1909)
- Reinaert de Vos (1910) - Short version of the 1907 edition
- Björnson, Kleine verhalen (1910) - 8 stories of Bjørnstjerne BjørnsonBjørnstjerne BjørnsonBjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer and the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. Bjørnson is considered as one of The Four Greats Norwegian writers; the others being Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie, and Alexander Kielland...
translated from NorwegianNorwegian languageNorwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language... - Vertelsel van Gokkel en Hinkel (1910) - A story of Clemens Brentano translated from GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
- De Mourlons (1910) - A book of F. Bouché translated from FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
- Het kerstekind (1911)
- Björnstjerne Björnson, Het Bruidslied (1911) - Translated from NorwegianNorwegian languageNorwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
- Over vrouwe Courtmans (1911) - Text of a lecture
- Het glorierijke licht (1912)
- Morgenstond (1912)
- De werkman (1913) - Later included in Werkmenschen
- De landsche woning in Vlaanderen (1913)
- Een beroerde maandag (1913) - containing Een beroerde maandag and De lawine (from Dorpsgeheimen I)
- Dorpslucht in 2 delen (1914)
- Mijn rijwiel (1915) - containing Mijn rijwiel , Hoe men schrijver wordt
- In oorlogstijd (1915–1916) - containing Augustus 1914, September 1914, October 1914, November 1914, December 1914-I and December 1914-Slot
- De aanslag (1917) from Najaar II
- Charles de Coster's Vlaamsche vertelsels (1918) - translated from FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
- containing De mannen van Smeerop, Blanca, Clara en Candida, Heere HalewijnHeer HalewijnHeer Halewijn is a Dutch-Flemish folk tale which survives in folk ballad. Although the first printed version of the song only appears in an anthology published in 1848, the ballad itself dates back to the 13th century and is one of the oldest Dutch folk songs with ancient subject matter to be...
and Smedje Smee - Sint-Jan (1919) - from Dagen
- De boomen (1919) - from Najaar II
- Björnson, Een vrolijke knaap (1919) - from Kleine verhalen
- Genoveva van Brabant Deel I (1919)
- Genoveva van Brabant Deel II (1920)
- Reinaert de Vos (1921)
- De blijde dag (1921) see Najaar I
- De schoone en stichtelijke historie van Genoveva van Brabant (1921) - short version of the work from 1919
- Prutske (1922)
- Grootmoedertje (1922) - Play version of Grootmoederken from Openlucht
- Vertelsels van 't jaar nul (1922) - containing 29 short stories
- Land en leven in Vlaanderen (1923) - containing Het uitzicht, De landsche dorpen, De landsche woningen, De landsche bevolking
- Herinneringen uit het verleden (1924) - containing Onze streek, Damme, Veurn-Ambacht, Volkslectuur (= edited and enhanced version of Over vrouwe Courtmans), Schoonheid, De schoonste deugd, Kinderlectuur, Mijn schooltijd, Het lied van den weemoed, Mijn loopbaan op de planken, Voor den oorlog, Mijn fiets in oorlogstijd, Na den oorlog, Na vijf en twintig jaren
- Tristan en Isolde (1924) - Based on the old folk book
- Op de Vlaamsche binnenwateren (1925) - containing 't Haantje, Dinsdag, Woensdag, Donderdag, Vrijdag, Zaterdag, Zondag
- Waarom ik Vlaanderen liefheb (1926) - original by G. Blachon translated from FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
- Werkmenschen (1926) - containing De werkman (separately published in 1913), Kerstmis in niemandsland, Het leven en de dood in den ast
- De teleurgang van den Waterhoek (1927)
- De drie Koningen aan de kust (1927)
- De tijd der kollebloemen (1927) - original by D.-J. D'Orbaix translated from FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
- Levenswijsheid uit China (1928) - translated from GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
- Vader en dochter (1928) - Correspondence of TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
with his daughter Marie translated from GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... - Reinaert de Vos fragment (1928)
- Kerstwake (1928)
- Kerstvertelsel (1929) - In 1938 published as De vreemde verteller
- Over Genoveva van Brabant (1929) - Text of a lecture
- Alma met de vlassen haren (1931)
- De oude wiking (1931)
- Dr. Lauwers schriften (1931) - Text of a lecture
- Drie Russische novellen (1932)
- De rampzalige kaproen (1933) - Rewriting of a medieval ruralRuralRural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
novelNovelA novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
of Wernher de Tuinder - IJslandsche Godensagen (1933) - containing 18 stories
- Sagen uit het hooge noorden (1934) - containing 38 tales from DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and IcelandIcelandIceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population... - Zeelieden en zeevisscherij (1934) - Edited from FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
book of René de Pauw: Gens de mer et pêche maritime - Vijf kerstvertellingen (1934) - Translated from French work of Camille Melloy
- Prutske's vertelselboek (1935) - containing 9 stories
- Levensbloesem (1937)
- Paradijssprookjes (1938) - From original of Max Mell.
- De terechtstelling van een onschuldige (1940)
- De maanden (1941) - Titel in The Netherlands: Een gang door het jaar
- De grauwe ruiter (1942) - original by Herbert von Hoerner translated from GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
- Smedje Smee (1942) - From Vlaamsche vertelsels of Ch. de Coster
- Heule (1942)
- Jantje Verdure (1943) - from Dorpsgeheimen I
- Het leven en de dood in den ast (1944) - from Werkmenschen
- Jeugd (1946) - from Openlucht
- Avelghem (1946)
- Beroering over het dorp (1948) - Short reworked version of Dorpslucht
- Ingoyghem (1951) - Period 1904-1914
- Ingoyghem II (1957) - Periode 1914-1940
- Ingooigem (1980) - containing Ingoyghem and Ingoyghem II
- Kroniek van de familie Gezelle (1960)
- Hugo Verriest (1964) - Monography
- In levenden lijve (1966) - Reworkings of some texts from Heule, Avelghem, Ingoyghem and Ingoyghem II, Kroniek van de familie Gezelle and Herinneringen uit het verleden
- In den voorwinter (1970) - from Lenteleven
- Het zinnespel van droom en dood (1971) - play version of Het leven en de dood in den ast
- Hoe ik Brugge gezien en beleefd heb (1971)
- Onze streek (1972) - part of Herinneringen uit het verleden
Awarded prizes
- Prize of Dutch Literature 1906 for his work over the period 1900-1904
- Prize of Dutch Literature 1911 for his work over the period 1905-1909
- State Prize for Literature 1935
- Prize Scriptores Catholici 1950
- Prijs der Nederlandse LetterenPrijs der Nederlandse LetterenThe Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren is awarded every three years to an author from the Netherlands, Belgium or, since 2005, Suriname writing in Dutch...
1962 for his entire life work