Marnix Gijsen was born on October 20, 1899, and died on September 29, 1984. He was a writer from Belgium. His actual name was Joannes Alphonsius Albertus Goris. His pen name was inspired by Marnix van Sint Aldegonde and the last name of his mother, Gijsen.

Early years

Gijsen was born in 1899 in Antwerp, Belgium. During his youth, he received a strict Roman Catholic education at the Jesuit college of Saint Ignacio in Antwerp. However, in 1917, he was heavily punished (consilium abeundi, E: "advice to leave") for his active involvement in the Flemish movement during World War I. In 1925, he attended the Catholic University of Leuven, where he earned a PhD in history and moral sciences. His dissertation focused on "Études sur les colonies marchandes méridionales (portugaises, espagnoles, italiennes) à Anvers de 1488 à 1567." Later, he studied at the University of Freiburg, the University of Paris (Sorbonne), and the London School of Economics.

Career

From 1928 to 1933, he worked as a government employee for the city of Antwerp, including serving as the main private secretary to the mayor of Antwerp from 1928 to 1932. Later, he worked in the government of Brussels from 1932 to 1939. During this time, he was the head of the office for the Minister of Economics from 1932 to 1937. From 1939 to 1941, he held the position of Commissioner-General for tourism.

During the Nazi occupation of Belgium, he left the country to avoid danger. From 1942 to 1964, he lived in New York City, United States, where he worked as the Belgian commissioner for information and also served as a plenipotentiary minister. He hosted a weekly radio program called "The Voice from America" on Saturday nights on Belgian public radio.

Literary career

Marnix Gijsen began his writing career as a poet in the expressionist group Ruimte (Space), which published an illustrated magazine. His most famous poem was Lof-litanie van de Heilige Franciscus van Assisië (Praise of Saint Francis of Assisi) (1920). In his early years, he worked with Flemish poets Paul van Ostaijen, Karel van den Oever, and Victor J. Brunclair. After traveling to the United States, he wrote the story Ontdek Amerika (Discover America) (1927). He also wrote essays about art, including works on Karel van Mander (1922), Jozef Cantré (1933), and Hans Memlinc (1939), and he wrote daily literary critiques. He was a close friend of the Belgian writer Suzanne Lilar, and he wrote the afterword for the 1976 Dutch translation of Lilar’s Le Couple (1963).

During World War II, he stopped believing in Roman Catholicism and adopted moral values and a lifestyle inspired by stoicism. This change is seen in his first novel, Het boek van Joachim van Babylon (The Book of Joachim of Babylon), published in 1947. After this, he wrote several novels, including Goed en kwaad (Good and Evil, 1951), Lament for Agnes (1951), De diaspora (The Diaspora, 1961), Zelfportret, gevleid natuurlijk (Self-Portrait, Flattered of Course, 1965), and De parel der Diplomatie (The Pearl of Diplomacy). In 1968, he wrote the play Helena op Itahaka. He also wrote about his relationship with Catholicism in De afvallige (The Renegade) and Biecht van een heiden (Confession of a Heathen), both published in 1971.

His writing shows the values of a moral thinker who follows his own path and upholds the importance of good and courage against evil. His work was honored with the Belgian National Prize for Literature in 1959 and 1969 and the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren in 1974. In 1975, he was honored with a knighthood and became a Baron.

Gijsen died in Lubbeek, Belgium, in 1984.