Valère Joseph Jules Gille (born

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

, 3 May 1867, died

Haasdonk Haasdonk is a village and ''deelgemeente'' (sub-municipality) of Beveren in East Flanders, Belgium. Haasdonk was an independent municipality until 1 January 1977, when it merged with Beveren as part of the fusion of municipalities in Belgium. It i ...

, 1 June 1950) was a Belgian poet.

Life

In 1885 Gille enrolled at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of ...

, and in 1887 he began writing for ''

La Jeune Belgique ''La Jeune Belgique'' (meaning ''The Young Belgium'' in English) was a Belgian literary society and movement that published a French-language literary review ''La Jeune Belgique'' between 1880 and 1897. Both the society and magazine were founded b ...

''. In 1889 he, together with

Iwan Gilkin Iwan Gilkin (7 January 1858 – 28 September 1924) was a Belgian poet. Born in Brussels, Gilkin was associated with the Symbolist school in Belgium. His works include ''Les ténèbres'' (1892, featuring a frontispiece by Odilon Redon) and ''Le ...

and Albert Giraud, took over the running of the periodical. He resigned in 1891 to take up a position at the

Royal Library of Belgium The Royal Library of Belgium (french: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history t ...

. A volume of his poems, ''La Cithare'' (Paris, 1897) was lauded by 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 ...

. On 8 January 1921 he was appointed to the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique, becoming its director 1925–1946. In 1945 he became curator of the Wiertz Museum. He died in Haasdonk on 1 June 1950.

Works

Poetry

* ''Le Château des merveilles'' (1893) * ''La Cithare'' (1897) * ''Le Collier d'Opales'' (1899) * ''Les Tombeaux'' (1900) * ''Le Coffret d'ébène'' (1901) * ''La Corbeille d'octobre'' (1902) * ''Le Joli Mai'' (1905) * ''La Victoire ailée'' (1921)

Drama

* ''Ce n'était qu'un rêve'' (1903) * ''Madame reçoit'' (1908) * ''Le Sire de Binche'' (unpublished)

Honours

* 1932 : Commander of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

. Royal order of 8 April 1932, as published in the Belgian official journal.

References

Members of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique 1867 births 1950 deaths 20th-century Belgian poets Catholic University of Leuven alumni Belgian male poets 19th-century Belgian poets 19th-century Belgian male writers 20th-century Belgian male writers {{Belgium-poet-stub