Frans Jozef Peter (F. Jos.) van den Branden (14 June 1837 – 22 March 1922) was a Belgian playwright, art historian, civil servant, educator and archivist. He wrote in the Dutch language. He is now known mainly for his art historical works, which mainly dealt with the history of the Antwerp school of artists and Antwerp poets and dramatists linked to the local chambers of rhetoric. He also co-authored the ''Biographisch woordenboek der Noord- en Zuidnederlandsche letterkunde'' with

Johannes Godefridus Frederiks Johannes Godefridus Frederiks (24 April 1828– 5 May 1896) was a Dutch historian and literary scholar, co-editor of the second edition of the ''Biographisch woordenboek der Noord- en Zuidnederlandsche letterkunde'' (Amsterdam, 1888–1890). Life F ...

, a biographical dictionary of writers from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and their predecessor states.

Life

Born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, he lived from 1851 to 1855 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 studied engineering. He then returned to Antwerp, where he worked as an engineer. In 1863 he became a civil servant of the municipal administration. He was also a secretary of

De Olijftak De Olijftak (The Olive Branch), or in full (Confraternity of the Holy Spirit called the Olive Branch) was a chamber of rhetoric that dates back to the early 16th century in Antwerp, when it was a social drama society drawing its membership primari ...

, a

chamber of rhetoric Chambers of rhetoric ( nl, rederijkerskamers) were dramatic societies in the Low Countries. Their members were called Rederijkers (singular Rederijker), from the French word 'rhétoricien', and during the 15th and 16th centuries were mainly inte ...

that traced its history back to the early 16th century in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. He started writing plays which were performed. In his comic one-act play 'with singing' with the title ''Spiritisme'' (

Spiritism Spiritism (French: ''spiritisme''; Portuguese: ''espiritismo'') is a spiritualist, religious, and philosophical doctrine established in France in the 1850s by the French teacher, educational writer, and translator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Riva ...

), which was performed by the Nationaal Theater (National Theatre) in 1864, he poked fun at the phenomenon of the proliferation of spiritist groups in Antwerp.Jan Lampo, ''Joseph Lies reist naar het Eeuwige Oosten. De eerste burgerlijke begrafenis in Antwerpen (1865)''
From 1865 onwards he taught Dutch

diction Diction ( la, dictionem (nom. ), "a saying, expression, word"), in its original meaning, is a writer's or speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression in a poem or story.Crannell (1997) ''Glossary'', p. 406 In its common meanin ...

at the city's music school. On 1 January 1869 he was appointed deputy archivist at the municipal archives, rising to chief archivist after Pieter Génard's retirement. He held the position until his retirement at the age of 75. He used his access to the city archives as the primary source for a number of his art historical works, which helped rediscover artists of the Antwerp school whose names and works had been forgotten. He died in Antwerp in 1922.

Works

* ''De Bloedwet, een volksverhaal'' (Antwerp, 1862) * ''Kunst en Kladschilder, blijspel met zang in éen bedrijf'' (Antwerp, 1863) * ''Soort bij soort, tooneelspel in éen bedrijf'' (Antwerp, 1863) * ''Spiritisme, tooneelspel in éen bedrijf'' (Antwerp, 1865) * ''Het Erfdeel van Matant, tooneelspel in éen bedrijf'' (Antwerp, 1866) * ''De jonge Kunstenaar, dram. gedicht'' (won a prize, Amsterdam, 1866) * ''Een nieuwbakken Rijke, comedie in drie bedr.'' (Antwerp, 1867) * ''Tusschen twee Vuren, tooneelspel in éen bedrijf'' (won a prize, Antwerp, 1867) * ''Geschiedenis der Academie van Antwerpen'' (awarded a prize by Antwerp City Council for the bicentenary of the Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, Antwerp, 1867) * ''Huiselijk Wel en Wee'' (Antwerp, 1867) * ''Huwelijksspeculatie'' (Antwerp and Amsterdam, 1868) * ''Bedrogen!'' (Antwerp, 1868) * ''Baas Gansendonck'' (play after

Hendrik Conscience Henri (Hendrik) Conscience (3 December 1812 – 10 September 1883) was a Belgian author. He is considered the pioneer of Dutch-language literature in Flanders, writing at a time when Belgium was dominated by the French language among the upper cl ...

's moral sketch, published in three editions, Antwerp, 1868) * ''Frans Wouters, Kunstschilder'' (1612-1659, Antwerp, 1872) * ''De Val van Antwerpen, geschiedk. drama in zeven tafer.'' (bekroond, Gent, 1873) * ''Eenige Bladen uit de geschiedenis van het Onderwijs te Antwerpen'' (Antwerp, 1874) * ''Mijnen vrienden Jan van Beers en Hendrika Mertens op hunne zilveren bruiloft'' (poem, Antwerp, 1875) * ''Willem van Nieuwelandt, Kunstschilder en Dichter'' (1584-1635, Gent, 1875) * ''Beknopt verslag over het gebruik der hoofdletters in de familienamen, gedurende de zes laatste eeuwen'' (Antwerp, 1875) * ''Eugeen Zetternam, Volksschrijver'' (1826-1855, Antwerp, 1876) * ''Adriaan de Brouwer en Joos van Craesbeeck'' (Haarlem, 1881 and Antwerp, 1882) * ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche Schilderschool'' (won first prize in an Amsterdam City Council competition, Antwerp, 1883) * ''Toespraak bij de onthulling van het marmen borstbeeld van

Peter Benoit Peter Benoit (17 August 18348 March 1901) was a Flemish composer of Belgian nationality. Biography Petrus Leonardus Leopoldus Benoit was born in Harelbeke, Flanders, Belgium in 1834. He was taught music at an early age by his father and the vil ...

, Herstichter der Vlaamsche Muziekschool'' (Antwerp, 1886)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:van der Branden, Franz Jozef 19th-century Belgian writers 20th-century Belgian male writers Belgian archivists 1837 births 1922 deaths Writers from Antwerp Belgian art historians Belgian biographers Flemish poets Belgian male poets 19th-century Belgian poets 20th-century Belgian poets 19th-century Belgian historians 19th-century Belgian educators Flemish historians Belgian literary historians 19th-century Belgian dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Belgian male writers 20th-century Belgian dramatists and playwrights Belgian male dramatists and playwrights Male biographers