Paul Louis François Spaak (5 July 1871 – 8 May 1936) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

literary historian The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...

, and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. Born in

Ixelles ( French, ) or (Dutch, ), is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Brussels' city centre, it is geographically bisected by the City of Brussels. It is also bordered by the muni ...

, Spaak graduated in law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in 1894. On 22 July 1894, he married

Marie Janson Marie Janson (23 July 1873 – 8 March 1960) was a Belgian politician and the first woman to serve in the Belgian senate. She was a daughter of Paul Janson and Anna-Augustine Amoré. Born in Brussels, her father Paul Janson was leading me ...

, daughter of

Paul Janson Paul Janson (11 April 1840 – 19 April 1913) was a Walloon Belgian liberal politician.Jean Francis ''Mes belges années'' 1974 "Paul Janson ne demeura que quatre ans dans la cité liégeoise car sa famille vint s'établir à Ixelles, rue d ...

. The couple had four children, of whom

Paul-Henri Spaak Paul-Henri Charles Spaak (; 25 January 1899 – 31 July 1972) was an influential Belgian Socialist politician, diplomat and statesman. Along with Robert Schuman, Alcide De Gasperi and Konrad Adenauer he was a leader in the formation of the i ...

, later Belgian Prime Minister like his uncle Paul-Emile Janson, was the most famous. Paul Spaak was a member of

Royal Academy of Belgium The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association which promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies su ...

from 19 August 1920 until 8 May 1936. From 1920, up until his death, Paul Spaak was co-director of the

Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...

. He shared this position with

Maurice Corneil de Thoran Maurice Corneil de Thoran ( Liège, 15 January 1881-Brussels, 6 January 1953), son of Paul Ernest de Thoran, was a Belgian musician. Life After having been a pianist-accompanist in 1902 and a conductor in France France (), officiall ...

and Jean Van Glabbeke.

Selection of works

* ''L'hérédité dans la littérature française antérieure au XIX^e siècle'', in: ''Revue Universitaire'', 1893 * ''Les Voyages vers mon pays'', 1907 (collection of poems) * ''Kaatje'', 1908 (theatre play, premiered at the

Théâtre Royal du Parc The Royal Park Theatre (french: Théâtre royal du Parc, nl, Koninklijk Parktheater) is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium. It is located at 3, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, on the edge of Brussels Park, facing the Belgian House of Parliament (Palace ...

, Brussels) * ''La Madone'', 1908 (theatre play, premiered at the

Théâtre de l'Œuvre The Théâtre de l'Œuvre is a Paris theatre on the Right Bank, located at 3, Cité Monthiers, entrance 55, rue de Clichy, in the 9° arrondissement. It is commonly conflated and confused with the late-nineteenth-century theater company named Th� ...

, Paris) * ''La Dixième Journée'', 1908 (theatre play, premiered at the Théâtre de l'Œuvre, Paris) * ''Le Louez-Dieu'', 1908 (theatre play, premiered at the Théâtre Royal du Parc, Brussels) * ''A Damme en Flandre'', 1912 (theatre play) * ''Camille'', 1913, (comedy) * ''Malgré ceux qui tombent'', 1919, (drama) * ''Un songe d'une nuit d'été'', 1919 (comedy) * ''Diadesté'', 1921 (comedy) * ''Jean Lemaire de Belges'', 1926 (article) * ''Poèmes 1898–1921'', 1937 (published after his death, poetry)

Sources

Paul Spaak
(French) * André ROUSSEAU, ''Paul Spaak'', in Biographie Nationale, part 38, col. 735–744, Brussels, 1974. * José MIRVAL, ''Le littérateur belge Paul Spaak'', Brussels, 1938. * Gustave VANZYPE, ''Notice sur Paul Spaak'', in: ''Annuaire de l'Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique 1938'', p. 37–64, Brussels, 1938.

External links

* 1871 births 1936 deaths People from Ixelles 19th-century Belgian lawyers 19th-century Belgian dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Belgian male writers 20th-century Belgian dramatists and playwrights Belgian male dramatists and playwrights Belgian translators Directors of La Monnaie Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni {{Belgium-bio-stub