Karel van de Woestijne

Who was Karel van de Woestijne?

Carolus Petrus Eduardus Maria "Karel" van de Woestijne was a Flemish writer and brother of the painter Gustave van de Woestijne. He went to highschool at the Koninklijk Athenaeum at the Ottogracht in Ghent. He also studied Germanic philology at the University of Ghent, where he came into contact with French symbolism. He lived at Sint-Martens-Latem from April 1900 up to January 1904, and from April 1905 up to November 1906. Here he wrote Laetemsche brieven over de lente, for his friend Adolf Herckenrath. In 1907 he moved to Brussels, and in 1915 he moved to Pamel, where he wrote De leemen torens together with Herman Teirlinck.

From 1906 he was correspondent of the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant in Brussels. Between 1920 and 1929 he taught history of Dutch literature at the University of Ghent. He was editor of successively the illustrated magazines of Van Nu en Straks and Vlaanderen. Of the illustrated magazine Vlaanderen he became secretary of the redaction in 1906. From 1925 until his death in 1929, he lived in Zwijnaarde, nearby Ghent.