Wies Moens

Who was Wies Moens?

Wies Moens was a literary historian, poet and pamphleteer from Flanders. He was also a founding member of the Verdinaso, but left the movement after its change of course in 1934.

He was born in Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde, the only child of baker Karel Moens and Johanna Moreels. Between 1916 and 1918 he studied German philology at the University of Ghent. He was a member of the Flemish Movement, and after the First World War he was imprisoned for his activism. The Flemish Literary Society requested his release through a petition signed by many, and in March 1921 Moens was set free. His expressionistic poetry was published in Ruimte magazine, which also published Paul van Ostaijen. Aside from that he was secretary of the Vlaamsche Volkstooneel and a journalist.