Emile Cammaerts

Born in Brussels on March 16, 1878, Émile Cammaerts was a Belgian poet, writer, and historian who settled in England in 1908. He spent much of his career interpreting Belgian life and history for British readers, and later served as Professor of Belgian Studies and Institutions at the University of London.

He reached his widest audience during the First World War. His patriotic poems, originally written in French and translated into English by his wife, Tita Brand, appeared in collections including Belgian Poems and New Belgian Poems. He also wrote prose works such as Through the Iron Bars and A History of Belgium, along with studies of English subjects including G. K. Chesterton.

Cammaerts died in Radlett, Hertfordshire, on November 2, 1953. Remembered as both a literary figure and a cultural bridge between Belgium and Britain, he left behind work shaped by war, faith, history, and a strong sense of national identity.