Pierre Mertens (born 9 October 1939) is a Belgian French-speaking writer and lawyer who specializes in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, director of the Centre de sociologie de la littérature at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and literary critic with the newspaper ''

Le Soir ''Le Soir'' (, "The Evening") is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Founded in 1887 by Emile Rossel, it was intended as a politically independent source of news. It is one of the most popular Francophone newspapers in Belgium, competing ...

''. Influenced by

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

, Mertens started to publish novels and short stories in 1969 and received the

Prix Médicis The Prix Médicis is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and . It is awarded to an author whose "fame does not yet match his talent." The award goes to a work of fiction in the French language. In 19 ...

in 1987 for ''Les éblouissements''. He nevertheless continued his activities as a lawyer, participating in many battles for human rights. In 1989, he entered the Académie royale de langue et littérature de Belgique, and was also named ''Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' by France. Mertens has reflected much on the social function of the writer. For him, private life, fiction, and history are inseparable. Thus he grants a central place to the memory in the creation of his works. To him the novelist finds his inspiration in their personal and the historical past. Mertens is particularly marked by the activities of his parents, his father a journalist and music lover and his mother a

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and pianist. He was also much affected by the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

, the execution of the

Rosenbergs Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were American citizens who were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union. The couple were convicted of providing top-secret i ...

or the tragedy of the miners of

Marcinelle Marcinelle (; wa, Mårcinele) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Charleroi, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Until 1977, it was a municipality of its own. Home of the comics publisher Dupuis, as many po ...

in 1956. Later as a scholar of international law he strongly denounces the genocide in

Biafra Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated form ...

, torture in Ireland, and the prisons of

Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

. Another important inspiration is music. In his novels, one finds the influence of music, such as the leitmotifs which cross them (the figure of the tiger, for example). He is also the author of a booklet on opera, ''La passion de Gilles'' (1982). His many travels and his extensive education has given him an international perspective. In ''Les Bons offices'' (1974) and ''Terre d'asile'' (1978), for example, Belgian history is presented from a foreign perspective. Mertens often sees his country as a synthesis of Europe and its problems. He caused a major controversy in his homeland with his book '' Une paix royale'', published in 1995, which tells a fictionalised story of

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 ...

's royal family, mixing fiction and reality. He was tried and forced to remove a couple of pages from the subsequent editions.

Works

*''L'Inde ou l'Amérique'' – 1969 *''Le Niveau de la mer'' – 1970 *''L'Imprescriptibilité des crimes de guerre et contre *l'humanité'' – 1974 *''Les Bons offices'' – 1974 *''Terre d'asile'' – 1978 *''Nécrologies'' – 1979 *''La Fête des anciens'' – 1983 *''Terreurs'' – 1983 *''Perdre'' – 1984 *''Berlin'' – 1986 *''Les éblouissements'' – 1987 *''Uwe Johnson, le scripteur de murs'' – 1989 *''L'Agent double'' – 1989 *''Lettres clandestines'' – 1990 *''Les Chutes centrales'' – 1990 *''Les Phoques de San Francisco'' – 1991 *''Flammes'' – 1993 *''Une paix royale'' – 1995 *''Collision et autres nouvelles'' – 1995 *''Tout est feu'' – 1999 *''Perasma'' – 2001

External links

Pierre Mertens at ARLFFB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mertens, Pierre 1939 births Belgian writers in French Belgian Marxists Living people Prix Médicis winners People from Watermael-Boitsfort