author
Eugène Demolder
1862–1919
A Belgian writer, lawyer, and art critic linked to the vibrant Symbolist scene of the late 19th century, he is especially remembered for the novel Le jardinier de la Pompadour. His work blends literary imagination with a sharp eye for art and society.
1 Audiobook
Le jardinier de la Pompadour
by Eugène Demolder
About the author
Born in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels, on December 16, 1862, Eugène Demolder wrote in French and built a varied career as a novelist, short-story writer, memoirist, and art critic. He trained in law, and that background fed into his memoir Sous la robe, which looks at professional life and social manners in Belgium.
Demolder was part of the Jeune Belgique literary revival, a movement that helped energize Belgian writing in the late 19th century. He is often associated with Symbolist circles, and his fiction is known for its atmospheric, finely textured style. Among English-language readers, he is most often noted for Le jardinier de la Pompadour.
He died in Essonnes, France, in October 1919. Today he is remembered as one of the French-language Belgian writers who moved easily between literature, criticism, and the wider artistic culture of his time.