EEKHOUD, GEORGES

(1854-1927)

AFrench-language writer of poems, novels, and short stories, Georges Eekhoud was born in Antwerp on 27 May 1854. He studied in Switzerland in 1866 and, in 1872, at the École royale militaire de Bruxelles. Short of funds, he became editor ofL'Étoile Belgein 1880 and published his first novelKees Doorikin 1883. Known for the naturalism of his style, Eekhout wrote works in regular succession into the 1920s, most notablyLa nouvelle Carthage(New Carthage [1888]). In 1895, he broke with members ofLa Jeune Belgiquein founding a new review,Le Coq Rouge, together with Émile Verhaeren, Maurice Maeterlinck, and others. Eekhoud taughtliterature, penned monographs on Belgian writers and painters, and translated works from Dutch and English. A pacifist inWorld War I, he died at his home inSchaerbeekon 29 May 1927.