Stan Lauryssens (born 14 October 1946 in Antwerp) is a Belgian writer. He lives in Antwerp and London.

Career

Early career

Lauryssens worked as a journalist in the 1970s and 1980s and claims to have interviewed with people such as

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

and some of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

’s henchmen such as

Otto Günsche __NOTOC__ Otto Günsche (24 September 1917 – 2 October 2003) was a mid-ranking officer in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a member of the SS Division Leibstandarte before he became Adolf Hitler's personal adjutant. G� ...

Writing career

Lauryssens has written five books about the Nazis, which includes the 1999 biography on German cultural historian and writer

Arthur Moeller van den Bruck Arthur Wilhelm Ernst Victor Moeller van den Bruck (23 April 1876 – 30 May 1925) was a German cultural historian, philosopher and writer best known for his controversial 1923 book '' Das Dritte Reich'' ("The Third Reich"), which promoted Germ ...

, ''The Man Who Invented the Third Reich''. Several of Lauryssens's non-fiction books have been serialised in ''The Mail on Sunday.'' Lauryssens has faced criticism over his depiction of persons such as

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

and Julien Schoenaerts. His 2007 book ''Dalí and I'' has been met with criticism from the Salvador Dali Foundation over claims about the artist's sex life and that Dalí knowingly participated in the production of fake artworks, which Lauryssens sold for him. The Foundation stated that these claims were made to promote the book and a prospective film that would have starred

Cillian Murphy Cillian Murphy (; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. Originally the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the rock band The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, he turned down a record deal in the late 1990s and began acting on stage and in short an ...

and Al Pacino as Lauryssens and Dalí, respectively. Filming on the adaptation was halted due to a dispute between the Foundation and the movie's director, as the Foundation held the rights to Dali's name. A lawsuit was levied by

Matthias Schoenaerts Matthias Schoenaerts (; ; born 8 December 1977) is a Belgian actor. He made his film debut at the age of 13 in '' Daens'' (1992), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He is best known for his roles as Filip in ...

and his mother Dominique Wiche against Lauryssens and the publisher of his biography on Schoenaerts's father Julien Schoenaerts, Manteau, over claims of misrepresentation. In regards to the lawsuit Lauryssens acknowledged that he used artistic license when writing the biography and that it contained untruths and misinformation. The judge ruled that the book must contain a sticker that acknowledged the misinformation, as Lauryssens stated in the book that it was truthful, and that they may not use Matthias Schoenaerts's name or false claims that Julien Schoenaerts was an exhibitionist in interviews or publicity for the book. In 2019 concerns were raised by ''Doorbraak'' that Lauryssens had plagiarized content for his 2019 book ''Mijn Herinneringen aan Jef Geeraerts'', a biography on Belgian writer

Jef Geeraerts Jozef Adriaan Anna Geeraerts (23 February 1930 – 11 May 2015), better known as Jef Geeraerts, was a Belgian writer. Geeraerts was born in Antwerp. After his studies in political and administrative sciences at the Colonial University of Belgiu ...

. ''Doorbraak'' reported that Pandora Publishing had made Lauryssens re-write portions of the book twice due to "copying memories of Jeroen Brouwers, Julien Weverbergh and Jef Geeraerts himself". Lauryssens acknowledged the claims and wrote that it was "a professional mistake for which I deserve a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

Personal life and criticism

Lauryssens was imprisoned in the late 1980s for selling thousands of fake Dali works, which he claims Dali knew about and approved, after being sought by

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

for a number of years.

Bibliography

Fiction

* ''Black Snow'' * ''Dead Corpses'' (2003) * ''Red Roses'' (2004) * ''Deader Than Dead Too'' (2005) * ''More than Naked'' (2005) * ''No Time for Tears'' (2006)

Non-fiction

* ''The Man Who Invented the Third Reich'' (1999) * ''Dalí & I: The Surreal Story'' (2007) * ''A Curry at Night and Sex on Sunday'' (2017) * ''Mijn Herinneringen aan Jef Geeraerts'' (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauryssens, Stan 1946 births Living people Belgian crime fiction writers 20th-century Belgian historians Belgian biographers 21st-century Belgian historians