BUYSSE, Cyriël 1859-1932

PERSONAL: Born September 20, 1859, in Nevele, Belgium; died August 25, 1932, in Afsnee, Belgium; married Nelly Dyserinck-Tromp, 1896. Education: Educated in Ghent.

CAREER: Writer. Worked as a businessman in United States, 1890-93.

MEMBER: Belgian Royal Academy.

WRITINGS:

IN ENGLISH

(With Maurice Maeterlinck and Louis Dumont-Wilden) Belgium at War, Van Hammée (Brussels, Belgium), 1918.

OTHER

De biezenstekker (short stories), 1890.

Het recht van de sterkste (novel; title means "The Law of the Strongest"), Versluys (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1893.

Sursum corda, 1894.

Mea culpa, 1896.

Op 8t Blauwhuis, Loman & Funke (The Hague, Netherlands), 1897.

Schoppenboer, 1898.

Uit Vlaanderen (title means "From Flanders"), 1899.

'n Leeuw van Vlaanderen, Van Kampen & Zoon (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1900.

Van arme mensen (title means "About Poor People"), Van Kampen (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1901.

Het gezin Van Paemel (play; title means "The Van Paemel Family"), 1903.

In de natuur, Van Dishoeck (Bussum, Netherlands), 1905.

(With W. G. van Riemsdÿk) Se non evero . . . Tooneelspel in vier bedrÿven, F. Bohn (Harlem, Netherlands), 1905.

t'Bolleken (novel; title means "The Little Ball"), Van Dishoeck (Bussum, Netherlands), 1906.

Het leven van Roseke van Dalen (novel; title means "The Life of Rosy van Dalen"), 1906.

Lente, Van Dishoeck (Bussum, Netherlands), 1907.

Het volle leven, Van Dishoeck (Bussum, Netherlands), 1908.

Het gezin van Paemel (play), Volksdrukkerij, Hoogpoart (Ghent, Belgium), 1908.

(With Herman Teirlinck) 8K kerinner Mij, Van Dishoeck (Bussum, Netherlands), 1909.

Het Ezelken (novel; title means "The Little Ass"), 1910.

Stemmingen (short stories), Van Dishoeck (Bussum, Netherlands), 1911.

De nachtelijke aanranding (novel; title means "The Nocturnal Aggression"), Van Dishoeck (Bussum, Netherlands), 1912.

Oorlogsvisioenen (title means "Vision of the War"), Van Dishoeck (Bussum, Netherlands), 1915.

Zomerleven (title means "Summer Life"), Van Dishoeck (Bussum, Netherlands), 1915.

De vroolijke tocht, Van Dishoeck (Bussum, Netherlands), 1915.

De roman van den schaatsenrijder, Maatschappij voor Goede en Goedkoope Lectuur (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1918.

De twee pony's, Meulenhoff (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1919.

Zoals het was (novel; title means "Such as It Was"), 1921.

Sususususut (play), 1921.

Det laatste ronde, Van Dishoeck (Bussum, Netherlands), 1923.

Tantes (novel; title means "Aunts"), 1924.

Uleken (novel), Van Rysberghe & Rombaut (Ghent, Belgium), 1926.

Kerels, Van Dishoeck (Bussum, Netherlands), 1927.

De schandpaal (novel; title means "The Pillory"), 1928.

De plaatsvervangende vrederechter (play), 1930.

Twee werelden (novel; title means "Two Worlds"), 1931.

Verzameld werk (collected works), seven volumes, 1974-1982.

De beste verhalen van Cyriël Buysse, Manteau (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 1987.

Contributor to periodicals, including De Nieuwe Gids and Le Réveil. Co-founder and co-editor, VanNuen Straks (title means "Now and Later"), 1893.

SIDELIGHTS: Cyriël Buysse was a distinguished Belgian writer who produced both fiction and drama in Flemish. Buysse was born in 1859 in Nevele, Belgium. He received his education in Ghent, then returned home to work in his father's factory. In 1886 he left Belgium and traveled to the United States, where he remained for four months. By this time, Buysse had already commenced his literary career. In 1890, while working in the United States, he produced Het recht van de sterkste, a naturalistic novel relating a farmer's struggles, and upon his return to Belgium in 1903 he completed Het leven van Roseke van Dalen, a play about rural hardships. In subsequent works, Buysse tempered his naturalism with romanticism and a measure of humor. Country life, however, continued to be a preferred theme, particularly in novels such as Het Ezelken and De nachtelijke aanranding, both of which were published before World War I erupted across continental Europe.

After the end of World War I in 1918, Buysse continued to produce notable works, including Tantes, Uleken, and De Schandpaal, a trio of novels reflecting the schism between Belgium's older and younger generations. Buysse's other works from this period include Zoals het was, an autobiographical novel that recalls his experiences in his father's factory, and Twee Werelden, a novel that derives, at least partially, from his earlier travels in the United States. In 1932, the year after he issued Twee Werelden, Buysse died in Afsnee, Belgium. His various publications were collected beginning in the mid-1970s and published in seven volumes as Verzameld werk.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Ons Erfdeel, September-October, 1972, Rik Lanckrock, "8Driekoningenavond'en hulde aan Staf Bruggen," pp. 121-122; September-October, 1982, Raymond Vervliet, "Cyriël Buysse tussen historiciteit en acctualiteit," pp. 538-548; November-December, 1988, Luc Van Doorslaer, "Cyriël Buysse in Duitsland," pp. 739-748.*