August Vermeylen

Who was August Vermeylen?

August Vermeylen was a Belgian writer and literature critic. In 1893 he founded the journal Van Nu en Straks. He studied history at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and became a professor of literature and of art history at the ULB. In addition to many works of literary and art criticism, he wrote poetry and in 1906 a novel, De wandelende Jood. A cultural organization, the Vermeylenfonds, was named after him.

Politically, Vermeylen supported both the unitarian Belgian state and an equal status for the Dutch language in that state. From 1921 to his death he was a senator for the Belgian Labour Party. In 1930, he became the first rector of the newly Dutchified Flemish Universiteit Gent. In 1938, he became vice-president of the Senate. In 1940, he was removed from all his official functions by the German occupation force.

August Vermeylen was the father of the Belgian socialist politician, Piet Vermeylen.