Johan Daisne was the pseudonym used by Herman Thiery, a Flemish author who lived from September 2, 1912, to August 9, 1978. He was born in Ghent, Belgium, and attended the Koninklijk Atheneum before studying Economics and Slavic languages at Ghent University. He earned his doctorate in 1936. In 1945, he was chosen to be the chief librarian of the city of Ghent.

Biography

Thiery started writing using the name Johan Daisne in 1935 with the release of a poetry collection called Verzen. Later, he wrote more poetry, including Het einde van een zomer (1940), Ikonakind (1946), Het kruid-aan-de-balk (1953), and De nacht komt gauw genoeg (1961). He worked with Hubert Lampo and was among the first to use magic realism in Dutch writing through his novels. His most famous novels are De trap van steen en wolken (1942), De man die zijn haar kort liet knippen (1947) (translated as The man who had his hair cut short, 1965), and De trein der traagheid (1953).

In addition to novels, Thiery wrote screenplays, radio plays, and non-fiction. His Filmografisch lexicon der wereldliteratuur (three volumes published in 1971, 1973, and 1978) was created because of his work with the Knokke film festival.