Ferdinand Augustijn Snellaert (21 July 1809 in

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...

– 3 July 1872 in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

) was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

writer.

Life

Snellaert studied medicine at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

(1827–1829) and became officer of health in the Dutch army (1830–1835). After his dismissal, he graduated as a doctor from the

University of Ghent Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

(1836–1837), and became a general practitioner in

. Snellaert became active in the

Flemish movement The Flemish Movement ( nl, Vlaamse Beweging) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought to promo ...

. He founded the ''Maetschappy van Vlaemsche Letteroefening De Tael is gantsch het Volk'', and he participated in several Flemish actions, such as the ''Vlaams petitionnement'' (1840), the ''Kunst- en Letterblad'' (1840), the ''Dutch Linguistic and Literary Conferences''(vanaf 1849), the ''Rapport van de Grievencommissie'' (1856–1859) en the ''Vlaemsch Verbond'' (1861). In 1847, he succeeded his friend

Jan Frans Willems Jan Frans Willems (11 March 1793 – 24 June 1846) was a Flemish writer and ''father'' of the Flemish movement. Willems was born in the Belgian city of Boechout, while that was under French occupation. He started his career in the office of a no ...

as member of the Royal Belgian Academy in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, where he represented the Flemish cause, and he was one of the co-founders of the

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

. In 1849, at the first ''Dutch Linguistic and Literary Conference'', he held the opening speech, where he argued every possible means should be used to ''strengthen the spirit of the people, and that we should fight those who worked against the development of the spirit of the people''. Language was believed to be an important tool to influence the character of the people. In the first half of the 1850s Snellaert tried to win a seat on the city council with the support of the moderate Société l'Union and the progressives of the newspaper Broedermin. However, due to the electoral victory of Judocus Delehaye he chose to join the Liberale Associatie ('Liberal Association'), where he was for a brief period a key figure of the pro-Flemish group. However, he failed to break through. His followers, including Jacob Heremans and especially

Julius Vuylsteke Julius Vuylsteke (Ghent, 10 November 1836 – Ghent, 16 January 1903) 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 ...

turned away from him when it became clear that Snellaert, disappointed by the attitude of the Liberale Associatie, started to think again of establishing an ideologically neutral Flemish party. Despite mediation by Adolphe Pierre Sunaert, Snellaert broke in October 1860 with the Liberale Associatie, which led to a rift between the Ghent liberals and the liberal, pro-Flemish Snellaert. A similar conflict arose in 1861 in the Vlaemsch Verbond ("Flemish Union') of which Snellaert was a co-founder. The liberal group made it impossible to maintain this politically neutral Flemish association and would establish in 1866 the Vlaamsche Liberale Vereeniging ('Flemish Liberal Association').

Honours

* 1849 : Knight in the Order of Leopold.Handelsblad (Het) 30-07-1849

Bibliography

* ''Oude Vlaemsche liederen'' (1848), together with

* ''Histoire de la littérature flamande'' (1849) * ''Vlaemsche bibliographie'' (1851) * ''Oude en nieuwe liedjes'' (1852) * ''Vlaemsche commissie'' (1859) * ''Alexanders geesten'' (1861) * ''Nederlandsche gedichten uit de veertiende eeuw van Jan van Boendaele, Hein van Aken e.a.'' (1869).

References

Sources

The Volksgeist Concept in Dutch Linguistics

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snellaert, Ferdinand Augustijn 1809 births 1872 deaths Flemish writers Flemish activists Ghent University alumni Utrecht University alumni People from Kortrijk