Gerard Walschap

Vocation

Belgian writer. In 1923, he became secretary at the redaction of the weekly magazine Het Vlaamsche land ( Flemish country). In 1925, he married with Marie-Antoinette Theunissen in Maaseik, and a year later their son, Hugo is born. Alice Nahon acts as a nurse and write a poem to the occasion Aan Hugo's fijne stemmeke ( To Hugo’s fine voice). In 1927, his second son, Guido, is born. In 1930, his third son, Lieven, is born, and in 1932, his daughter Caroline (Carla Walschap). In 1935, he narrowly escapes death, as he becomes a victim of carbon monoxide poisoning in the bathroom, but he is saved by his spouse. His fourth son, Bruno, was born in 1938. As a writer he started his literary career with romantic poetry and Catholicism inspired theatre plays. In 1928, he publishes his first novel Waldo. He became widely known with his novel Adelaide, which appeared in 1929, and which was the first of a series of novels. Although initially well-received, the book caused him the rancour of the clergy, and his books were placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. This adverse reaction, which was not intended by Walschap, hurt him and after a long inner struggle and doubt he abandoned his faith and became a secular humanist. This inner struggle (with faith), would remain of significant importance in his literary work. Adelaide became part of the De familie Roothooft. In part of his work he considers society a burden which is hard to bear, such as in De bejegening van Christus(Meeting with Christ) (1940). In his work he also glorifies the extremes of society, such as the primitive life in Volk (people) and De dood in het dorp (Death in the village) (1930), and the almost aggressive freedom in Het kind ( The child) (1939) and De consul (1943) and the expression of worriless freedom in probably his most famous work Houtekiet (1939). He received several literary prizes, among which in 1968, the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren, and in 1975 he was knighted and made a Baron. He was a prolific writer. He died 25 October 1989. Link to Wikipedia biography