Editing Willem Elsschot (section)

== Professional career ==
After finishing his studies, Elsschot worked in [[Paris]] for a South American businessman, then for various businesses in the Netherlands.

During the [[World War I|First World War]], he served as the secretary of a national food relief committee in Antwerp, after which he moved into the world of advertising, setting up his own agency in 1911, which he would run until his death.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Elsschot, Willem 1882-1960 {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/elsschot-willem-1882-1960|access-date=2021-11-01|website=encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

Elsschot did not enjoy the world of advertising. Before his death in 1960 he was quoted as saying: "I am not only disgusted by advertising, but also by commercialism in general. And I wrote ''Lijmen'' because I had to get rid of it somehow. I had to advertise, because I could never live off my pen."