Read Next
Discover
Jan Frans Willems
Flemish poet and philologist
Quick Facts
- Born:
- March 11, 1793, Boechout, Brabant, Austrian Netherlands [now in Belgium]
- Died:
- June 24, 1846, Ghent, Belg. (aged 53)
- Subjects Of Study:
- Dutch language
Jan Frans Willems (born March 11, 1793, Boechout, Brabant, Austrian Netherlands [now in Belgium]—died June 24, 1846, Ghent, Belg.) was a Flemish poet, playwright, essayist, known as the "Father of the Flemish Movement," and the most important philologist of the Dutch language of his time. Willems was appointed assistant city archivist of Antwerp in 1815 and registrar in 1821. During these years he wrote plays and poems in the traditional style of the rederijkers (“rhetoricians”; see rederijkerskamer) and began his work as a philologist. His two volume Verhandeling over de Nederduytsche tael- en letterkunde, opzigtelyk de zuydelyke provintien der Nederlanden ...(100 of 201 words)