The Vermeylenfonds is a non-profit Flemish cultural socialist organization. The Vermeylenfonds was founded in 1945, in Brussels with the aim of studying and of continuing the work of August Vermeylen

August Vermeylen

August Vermeylen was a Belgian writer and literature critic. In 1893 he founded the journal Van Nu en Straks . He studied history at the Université Libre de Bruxelles , and became a professor of literature and of art history at the ULB...

. The Vermeylenfonds was set up within the framework of the enlargement process 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....

 which consisted until then mainly of catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 (Davidsfonds

Davidsfonds

The Davidsfonds is a Catholic organisation in Flanders, Belgium with the purpose of promoting the Flemish culture in the areas of literature, history and art....

) and liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 (Willemsfonds

Willemsfonds

The Willemsfonds, named after Jan Frans Willems, is a non-profit cultural organization founded in the 19th century to promote Flemish culture and language in Belgium. In order to achieve this goal, the organization encouraged Flemish folk song, organized linguistic games and published inexpensive...

) organizations. For a long time the Vermeylenfonds also participated in the political debate in Flanders as a lobbying group.