Pol Vandromme (12 March 1927 – 28 May 2009) was a Belgian literary critic and writer.

Life and career

Born in

Gilly Gilly is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Gilly is first mentioned in 1179 as ''de Iusliaco''. In 1278 it was mentioned as ''Gillie''. Geography Gilly has an area, , of . Of this area, or ...

, near

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

, on 12 March 1927, Pol Vandromme emerged in the 1950s as a literary critic who valued style and narrative over ideas and what he called "

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...

humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

", which made him a contrarian in a time when

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

was highly regarded and placed him in association with the

Hussards A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely a ...

literary movement. In addition to Hussards like Antoine Blondin, the contemporary writers Vandromme praised included Roger Vailland and Françoise Sagan. He wrote books about the writers Louis-Ferdinand Céline,

Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, and was the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret. Early life and education ...

Roger Nimier Roger Nimier (31 October 1925 – 28 September 1962) was a French novelist. Life Nimier was born in Paris, and served in the French Army, specifically in the 2nd Hussard Regiment in the Second World War (until 1945). He began to write quite earl ...

, Michel Déon, Felicien Marceau,

Michel Mohrt Michel Mohrt (28 April 1914 – 17 August 2011) was an editor, essayist, novelist and historian of French literature. Mohrt was born in Morlaix, Finistère. He was elected to the Académie française on 18 April 1985. Mohrt died at the age of ...

and

Jacques Perret Jacques Perret was a French architect in the service of the Catholic King Henry IV of France. He was a Huguenot, from the Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-R ...

, as well as the singers

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, l ...

and Georges Brassens, and the first in-depth book about ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 bande dessinée#Formats, ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one ...

'', published in 1959. He wrote one novel, ''Un été acide'', published in 1990. The

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

awarded Vandomme its in 1984 and its in 1992. He died on 28 May 2009 in

Loverval Loverval ( wa, Lavervå) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Gerpinnes, located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. Former municipalities of Hainaut (province) {{Hainaut-geo-stub ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandromme, Pol 1927 births 2009 deaths Belgian literary critics Literary critics of French Belgian biographers 20th-century Belgian male writers 20th-century Belgian non-fiction writers 20th-century Belgian journalists Writers from Charleroi Belgian writers in French