Émile Leon Cammaerts
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(16 March 1878 in
Saint-Gilles, Belgium – 2 November 1953,
Radlett,
Hertfordshire) was a Belgian playwright, poet (including
war poet
A war poet is a poet who participates in a war and writes about their experiences, or a non-combatant who writes poems about war. While the term is applied especially to those who served during the First World War, the term can be applied to a p ...
) and author who wrote primarily in English and French.
[
Cammaerts translated three books by art, history and landscape expert ]John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...
and selected G. K. Chesterton Father Brown
Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intui ...
detective stories in ''La clairvoyance du père Brown''.
He became Professor of Belgian Studies at the University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
in 1933, most of his works and papers are held there in the Senate House Library
Senate House is the administrative centre of the University of London, situated in the heart of Bloomsbury, London, immediately to the north of the British Museum.
The Art Deco building was constructed between 1932 and 1937 as the first phase ...
.
Personal life
Cammaerts was born in Saint-Gilles, a suburb of Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. He was educated at the University of Brussels and later at the experimental Université Nouvelle where he studied geography. He migrated to England in 1908 and was baptised
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
as an Anglican at age 34 (c. 1912) henceforth taking the middle name Pieter.opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
singer Marie Brema), with whom he had six children, including Pieter Cammaerts, who was killed while serving in the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, prominent SOE operative Francis Cammaerts and Catherine Noel "Kippe" Cammaerts, an actress and mother of Michael Morpurgo.
Works
Poems
* ''Belgian Poems : Chants patriotique, et autres poèmes'' (1915)
* ''New Belgian Poems. Les trois rois et autres poèmes'' (1916 – 3 editions)
* ''Messines and other Poems'' (1918)
Stage productions
*''A Christmas virgil'' at The New Theatre, St Martins Lane (1910) Tita played the widow[
* '' Carillon'', stage recitation, music by Edward Elgar: (1914)
* '' Une voix dans le désert'', stage recitation in English and French versions with music by Edward Elgar (1915) containing the poem for soprano ]aria
In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...
below
** '' Quand nos bourgeons se rouvriront'' and for the English version ''When the spring comes round'' from Une voix dans le désert
* '' Le drapeau belge'', recitation, with music by Edward Elgar (1917)
Books
* ''The Adoration of Soldiers'' (1916) with illustrated poems
* ''La Veillée de Noël. Les deux bossus'' (1917)
* ''Through the iron bars, two years of German occupation in Belgium'' (1917)
* ''A ma patrie enchainée'' (1918)
* ''A history of Belgium from the Roman invasion to the present day'' (1921/2)
* ''The legend of Ulenspiegel'' (1922)
* ''The Treasure of Belgium'' (1924)
* ''The Poetry of Nonsense'' (1925)
* ''Discoveries in England'' (1930)
* ''Albert of Belgium, defender of right'', a biography of King Albert I of Belgium (1935)
* ''The Laughing Prophet: The Seven Virtues And G. K. Chesterton'' (Study of G. K. Chesterton – 1937)
* ''The Keystone of Europe'' (1939)
* ''The Prisoner at Laeken: King Leopold, Legend and Fact'' (1941)
* ''The Situation of Belgium: September 1939 to January 1941'' (1941)
* ''Upon this rock'' (1943)
* ''The flower of grass'' (1944/5)
* ''The peace that is left'' (1945)
* ''Principalities and Powers'' with Jeanne Lindley (1947)
* ''The Devil takes the Chair'' (1949)
* ''The cloud and the silver lining (1952) (followed by Christian contributions to the BBC Silver Lining Radio programme series
* ''The Work of our Hands'' (1953) book on the themes of art and religion
Other
* Translation of Guido Gezelle
Guido Pieter Theodorus Josephus Gezelle (1 May 1830 – 27 November 1899) was an influential writer and poet and a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium. He is famous for the use of the West Flemish dialect.
Life
Gezelle was born in Bruges in ...
from the West Flemish
West Flemish (''West-Vlams'' or ''West-Vloams'' or ''Vlaemsch'' (in French-Flanders), nl, West-Vlaams, french: link=no, flamand occidental) is a collection of Dutch dialects spoken in western Belgium and the neighbouring areas of France and ...
dialect with Charles Van der Borren, ''Poèmes choisis''
* Preface to ''The glory of Belgium – An anthology'' (1915) collated and edited by Russell Markland and dedicated on the front opening to Cammaerts.
* ''Baron Edmond de Cartier de Marchienne'' (1946) booklet
* Article on William Dobson
William Dobson (4 March 1611 (baptised); 28 October 1646 (buried)) was a portraitist and one of the first significant English painters, praised by his contemporary John Aubrey as "''the most excellent painter that England has yet bred''". He ...
, painter ''An English successor to van Dyck: William Dobson'' Second series no III
Notes
References
External links
Catalogue of Émile Cammaerts' papers
*
*
"Carillon": monologue with music, poem by Émile Cammaerts and music by Elgar
Score from Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
"Une voix dans le désert": monologue with music, poem by Émile Cammaerts and music by Elgar
Score from Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cammaerts, Emile
1878 births
1953 deaths
Writers from Brussels
Belgian poets in French
People from Radlett