Karel Lodewijk Ledeganck (

Eeklo Eeklo () is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises only the town of Eeklo proper. The name ''Eeklo'' comes from the contraction of "eke" and "lo", two Old German words meaning ''oak'' and ''spar ...

, 9 November 1805 –

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 ...

, 19 March 1847) 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. He was of humble origin, but became extraordinary Professor at 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 ...

. He started his career as a clerk, then became a judge, and school inspector before he came to teach at the university. In 1836, he published the poem ''Het klavier'' ("the keyboard"), but he made his actual debut in 1838, with the poems in ''Bloemen mijner lente'' ("flowers of my spring"). His initial work was strongly influenced by the English and French Romantic movement, and more specifically by

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

and

Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869), was a French author, poet, and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic and the continuation of the Tricolore as the flag of France. ...

, in contrast to his later poems, which were rather pessimistic. With his ''Drie zustersteden'' of 1843, dedicated to the cities of

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

and

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,

, which was called the poetic gospel of 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 achieved a breakthrough. In this trilogy he showed himself to be the best Flemish poet of his generation. In his, now somewhat exalted or melancholic, style he proclaimed his love for the Flemish people and his belief in their future. The Karel Lodewijk Ledeganckstraat in

was named after him. The Ledeganck Campus of sciences of

Ghent University 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 ...

is located here.

Sources

Karel Lodewijk Ledeganck
(Dutch) 1805 births 1847 deaths Flemish writers Flemish activists {{Belgium-writer-stub

See also

Sources