Maurice Maeterlinck

Maurice Polydor Marie Bernard Meterlink (August 29, 1862 - May 6, 1949), also known as Count (or Count) Meterlink in 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911 "in recognition of his multifaceted literary work, and especially his dramatic works, which are distinguished by rich imagination and poetic fantasy, which is revealed, sometimes in the guise of a fairy tale, deep inspiration, although they mysteriously appeal to readers' own feelings and stimulate their imagination. ”The main themes of his work are death and the meaning of life. He was a leading member of La Jeune Belgique, and his plays form an important part of the Symbolist movement. Meterlink was born in Ghent, Belgium, into a rich French-speaking family. his mother, Matilda Colette Francoise (née van den Bosschet), came from a wealthy family, his father, Polidor, a notary public who loved to take care of the greenhouses on his property, and was sent to Jesuit College in St. Barbé in September 1874, where he was neglected works of French romantics and allowed only plays on religious topics. His experience at this school influenced his aversion to the Catholic Church and organized religion. He wrote poems and short novels while studying, but his father wanted him to enter into law. After graduating from law at the University of Ghent in 1885, he spent several months in Paris, France. He met with some members of the new movement of symbolism, in particular with Villiers de l'Ile Adam, who would greatly influence the subsequent work of Meterlink.