Maurice Maeterlinck

Count Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (August 29, 1862 - May 6, 1949) was a Belgian poet, playwright, and essayist.

Biography

Count Maurice Maeterlinck was born in Ghent, Belgium, in a wealthy, French-speaking family. He wrote poems and short novels during his studies,

Related Topics:
Ghent - Belgium

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

which he destroyed later; only fragments are left.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After finishing his law studies, he spent a few months in Paris, France.

Related Topics:
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.

Related Topics:
Symbolism - Villiers de l'Isle Adam

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1889, he became famous overnight after his first play, La princesse Maleine had received enthusiastic praise from Octave Mirbeau, the literary critic of Le Figaro. In the following years, he wrote a series of symbolist plays characterized by fatalism and mysticism, most importantly L'Intruse (The Intruder, 1890), Les Aveugles (The Blind, 1890) and Pelléas et Mélisande (1892, this last of which received several well-known musical treatments (see below).

Related Topics:
1889 - Octave Mirbeau - Le Figaro - Fatalism - Mysticism - 1890 - Pelléas et Mélisande - 1892

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His greatest contemporary success, however, was the fairy play L'Oiseau bleu (The Blue Bird, 1909). This play has been made into at least two movies, one starring Shirley Temple and another starring Elizabeth Taylor.

Related Topics:
Fairy play - 1909 - Shirley Temple - Elizabeth Taylor

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. Main themes in his work are death and the meaning of life.

Related Topics:
Nobel Prize in Literature - 1911

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

Related Topics:
1895 - 1918 - 1919 - United States

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1926 he published La Vie des Termites (The Life of the White Ant) based - some say plagiarised - on the work "The Soul of the White Ant" by the South African poet and scientist Eugene Marais (1871 - 1936).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1930 he bought a château in Nice, France, and named it Orlamonde, a name occurring in his work Quinze Chansons.

Related Topics:
1930 - Château - Nice - France

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was made a count by King Albert I of Belgium in 1932.

Related Topics:
King Albert I - 1932

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Accoring to an article published in the New York Times in 1940, he arrived in the United States from Lisbon on a the Greek Liner Nea Hellas. He has fled to Lisbon in order to escape the Nazi invasion of both Belgium and France. The Times quoted him as saying, "I knew that if I was captured by the Germans I would be shot at once, since I have always been counted as an enemy of Germany because of my play, 'Le Bourgmestre de Stillemonde,' which delt with the conditions in Belgium during the German Occupation of 1918."

Related Topics:
New York Times - 1940 - Lisbon - Nea Hellas - Nazi

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He returned to Nice,France after the war and died there in 1949.

Related Topics:
Nice - France

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~