Franz Hellens

Who was Franz Hellens?

Franz Hellens, born Frédéric van Ermengem was a prolific Belgian novelist, poet and critic. Although of Flemish descent, he wrote entirely in French, and lived in Paris from 1947 to 1971.

He is known as one of the major figures in Belgian magic realism, and as the indefatigable editor of Signaux de France et de Belgique. The only work translated into English is Mémoires d'Elseneur.

His father, Émile van Ermengem, was the bacteriologist who discovered the cause of botulism. His younger brother was the writer François Maret.