Editing Willem Elsschot

{{Short description|Flemish writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Willem Elsschot
| image            = WillemElsschot1920.jpg
| alt              = Black-and-white portrait of a man with dark hair and moustache wearing a dark jacket, light shirt, and dark tie
| caption          = Elsschot in c. 1920
| pseudonym        = Willem Elsschot
| birth_name       = Alphonsus Josephus de Ridder
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1882|05|07|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Antwerp]], Belgium
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1960|05|31|1882|05|07|df=yes}}
| death_place      = Antwerp, Belgium
| resting_place    = 
| occupation       = Poet, writer
| language         = Dutch
| education        = 
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| awards           = [[Constantijn Huygens Prize]] <small>(1951)</small>
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'''Alphonsus Josephus de Ridder''' (7 May 1882 – 31 May 1960) was a Belgian writer and poet who wrote under the [[pseudonym]] '''Willem Elsschot''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈʋɪləm ˈɛlsxɔt|pron}}). One of the most prominent Flemish authors, his most famous work, ''[[Cheese (novel)|Cheese]]'' (1933) is the most translated Flemish-language novel of all time.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-05-25|title=Did you know that Willem Elsschot once lived in Brussels?|url=https://focusonbelgium.be/en/facts/did-you-know-willem-elsschot-once-lived-brussels|access-date=2021-11-01|website=Focus on Belgium|language=en}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
[[File:La Revue continentale.jpg|thumb|288x288px|Excerpt from the magazine ''La Revue'' of Willem Elsschot.<ref>{{Cite web|title=La Revue continentale illustrée: industrie, finance, commerce, éducation. Vol.4 Nr.10-11|url=https://lib.ugent.be/viewer/archive.ugent.be:464CCB14-4DA8-11E1-BEAC-D3843B7C8C91#?c=&m=&s=&cv=11&xywh=1256,31,7496,5582|access-date=2020-10-05|website=lib.ugent.be}}</ref>]]

Elsschot was born Alphonsus Josephus de Ridder on 7 May 1882 in [[Antwerp]], to a family of bakers. As a child he would often visit his uncle in rural Blauberg, near [[Herselt]], where they would walk in the Helschot area, from which he would later derive his [[pen name]].

After studying at a state school in Van Maerlantstraat, then the Royal Athenaeum of Antwerp, he attended the ''Institut Supérieur de Commerce de l'État'' <small>([[:nl:Rijkshandelshogeschool|nl]])</small>, later known as the ''Rijkshandelshogeschool,'' where he would study economics and business, achieving a masters' degree in commercial sciences in 1904. It was during his studies there that he would develop a love for literature, while under the tutorship of [[Charles Polydore de Mont|Pol de Mont]].

== 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."

== Literary career ==
Elsschot began writing poetry in 1900, making his authorial debut as a poet (publishing in the magazine ''Alvoorder'').

Yet it was as a writer of prose that he achieved much of his fame. Whilst living in [[Rotterdam]] he wrote ''Villa des Roses'' (1913), following the adventures of the guests of a Paris boardinghouse.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Willem Elsschot {{!}} Belgian writer|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Willem-Elsschot|access-date=2021-11-01|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> While it was ignored by critics and readers alike upon its publication, his most famous works would come in the 1920s and 1930s: ''Lijmen'' (1924), ''Kaas'' (1933), ''Tsjip'' (1934) en ''Het Been'' (1938), novels with tragic and comic elements.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Steinz|first1=Jet|last2=Steinz|first2=Pieter|title=Steinz: gids voor de wereldliteratuur in 416 schrijvers, 104 meesterwerken, 26 one-book wonders, 52 boekwebben, 26 thema's, 26 quizzen en 52 landkaarten|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQb_CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA143|year=2015|publisher=Wereldbibliotheek|language=Dutch|isbn=9789046819432|pages=143–44}}</ref>

Central themes in his work are [[business]] and [[family life]]. His style is characterised by detailed descriptions of surroundings and a mild [[Cynicism (contemporary)|cynicism]]. In his first books he works with the same characters, giving the readers a familiarity and a sketch of life in Antwerp during the 1930s. His characters Boorman, an entrepreneur always looking for scams and opportunities, and Frans Laarmans, a clerk, evolve through these books.

== Personal life and death ==
He was married to Fine de Ridder, with whom he had a daughter, Ida. He also had a relationship with the poet Liane Bruylants.

In 1920, he became a knight of the [[Order of the Crown (Belgium)|Order of the Crown]].<ref>RD 2/12/1920</ref>

Elsschot died in Antwerp from a heart attack on 31 May 1960, at the age of 78. He was cremated and his ashes buried with the body of his wife in the [[Antwerpen Schoonselhof]]. He was posthumously awarded the State Prize for Literature, and in 1994 a statue of him was erected at Mechelseplein in Antwerp.

In 2005 he finished at No. 49 in the Flemish version of "[[De Grootste Belg]]" ("The Greatest Belgian").

== Adaptations ==
=== Film adaptations ===
His novel ''Lijmen/Het Been'' was adapted into film by [[Robbe De Hert]] in 2001 as ''[[Lijmen/Het Been]]''. ''Villa des Roses'' was adapted to film in 2002 by [[Frank Van Passel]] as ''[[Villa des Roses]]''.

=== Comic book adaptation ===
In 2008 the novel ''Kaas'' ("Cheese", 1933) and the novella ''Het dwaallicht'' ("Will o'the Wisp", in ''Three Novels'', 1946) were made into [[graphic novel]]s by [[Dick Matena]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/matena.htm|title=Dick Matena|website=lambiek.net}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==
* (1913) ''{{Lang|fr|Villa des Roses}}''
* (1920) ''{{Lang|nl|Een ontgoocheling}}'' (The disappointment)
* (1921) ''{{Lang|nl|De verlossing}}'' (The salvation)
* (1924) ''{{Lang|nl|Lijmen}}'' (Convincing)
* (1933) ''{{Lang|nl|[[Cheese (novel)|Kaas]]}}'' (Cheese)
* (1934) ''{{Lang|nl|Tsjip}}''
* (1934) ''{{Lang|nl|Verzen van vroeger}}'' (Poems from the past)
* (1937) ''{{Lang|nl|Pensioen}}'' (Pension)
* (1938) ''{{Lang|nl|Het been}}'' (The leg)
* (1940) ''{{Lang|nl|De leeuwentemmer}}'' (The lion tamer)
* (1942) ''{{Lang|nl|Het tankschip}}'' (The tank ship)
* (1943) ''{{Lang|nl|Verzen}}'' (Poems)
* (1946) ''{{Lang|nl|Het dwaallicht}}'' (The will-o'-the-wisp)
* (1957) ''{{Lang|nl|Verzameld werk}}'' (Collected work)

== See also ==
* [[Spijt]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.weg.be/ Elsschot society] (Dutch)
* [http://www.cobra.be/cm/cobra/boek/2.10299 "Willem Elsschot"]; (Dutch) series of articles on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his death

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elsschot, Willem}}
[[Category:1882 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Belgian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Belgian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Belgian novelists]]
[[Category:Constantijn Huygens Prize winners]]
[[Category:Flemish poets]]
[[Category:Writers from Antwerp]]