Maurice Maeterlinck
Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (August 29, 1862 - May 6, 1949) was a Belgian poet, playwright, and essayist.
Biography
Maurice Maeterlinck was born in Ghent, Belgium, in a wealthy, French-speaking family. He wrote poems and short novels during his studies,
which he destroyed later; only fragments are left.
After finishing his law studies, he spent a few months in Paris, France.
He met there some members of the then new Symbolism movement, Villiers de l'Isle Adam in particular. The latter would have a big influence on the work
of Maeterlinck.
He became famous with his play La princesse Maleine in 1890, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. Main themes in his work
are death and the meaning of life.
He had a relationship with the singer Georgette Leblanc from 1895 till 1918. In 1919 he married Renée Dahon; together they went to the United States.
In 1930 he bought a château in Nice, France, and named it Orlamonde, a name occurring in his work Quinze Chansons.
He was made a count by King Albert I of Belgium in 1932. In 1939 he flew to the United States, and stayed there until 1947.
He died in Nice, France in 1949.
Partial Bibliography
Verse
- Serres chaudes (1889; Hot House Blooms)
- Douze chansons (1896, in 1900 re-issued as Quinze chansons)
Prose
- Le Trésor des humbles (1896; The Treasure of the Humble)
- La Sagesse et la destinée (1898; Wisdom and Destiny)
- La Vie des abeilles (1901; The Life of the Bee)
- L'Intelligence des fleurs (1907; The Intelligence of Flowers)
Plays
- La Princesse Maleine (1899)
- Pelléas et Mélisande (1892) - his most famous Symbolist drama, made into an opera in 1902 by Claude Debussy
- Monna Vanna (1902)
- L'Oiseau bleu (1908; The Blue Bird)
- Le Bourgmestre de Stilmonde (1918; The Burgomaster of Stilmonde)
External links
Referenced By
1862 in literature | 1908 in literature | 1911 | 1911 in literature | 1949 in literature | 29 August | 29th August | As of 1911 | August 29 | August 29th | Bernhardt | El maleficio de la mariposa | Famous Belgian people | Famous Belgians | Famous Belgium people | Gregorio Martínez Sierra | List of Belgians | List of Belgium-related topics | List of Belgium related topics | List of Famous Belgians | List of famous Belgian people | List of famous Belgium people | List of people by name: Mad-Mam | NobelPrize/LiteraturE | Nobel Prize/Literature | Nobel Prize for Literature | Nobel Prize in Literature | Octave Mirbeau | Sarah Bernhardt | Symbolism (arts) | The Blue Bird | The Blue Bird (movie)
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