Camille Lemonnier

Born in Ixelles, near Brussels, Camille Lemonnier was a Belgian writer, poet, journalist, and art critic. He first published art criticism with Salon de Bruxelles in 1863, and he became one of the standout figures in Belgium’s 19th-century French-language literary scene.

Although he was linked with the Symbolist circle La Jeune Belgique, his best-known fiction is realist and often naturalist in tone. Critics have especially noted the influence of Émile Zola on Un Mâle (1881), the novel most often named as his best known work.

Lemonnier’s reputation rests on both his literary range and his forceful style. Writing novels, short stories, and criticism, he was widely seen as an important personality in the literary renaissance of Belgium.