Famous Belgian Writers

Georges Simenon was a Belgian writer who published nearly 500 novels during his illustrious career that spanned several years. Simenon is credited with creating one of the most popular fictional detectives of all time, Jules Maigret. A self-proclaimed Casanova, Simenon claimed in 1977 to have had sex with 10,000 women since his 13th birthday.

Peyo was a Belgian artist and comic book writer best remembered for creating popular comics series like Johan and Peewit and The Smurfs. He is also credited with creating several other comics series like Jacky and Célestin and Steven Strong. Peyo also founded his own publishing house called Cartoon Creation.

Alexandra David-Néel was a Belgian–French explorer, anarchist, spiritualist, Buddhist, writer, and opera singer. She is best remembered for traveling to important spiritual centers, including Lhasa, Tibet in 1924, when foreigners were forbidden from entering Lhasa. Alexandra David-Néel wrote more than 30 books and her teachings influenced people like Allen Ginsberg, Benjamin Crème, Jack Kerouac, Ram Dass, and Alan Watts.   

American-born New Zealand-Belgian author Christine Leunens is best known for her bestselling novels such as Primordial Soup and Caging Skies, with the latter inspiring the critically acclaimed movie Jojo Rabbit. Interestingly, she had initially worked as a print model to fund her first book. She has also been a screenwriter.

Johan Heldenbergh is a Belgian actor, screenwriter, film director, theatre director, and playwright. Over the years, Heldenbergh has achieved international fame by starring in popular films like The Misfortunates, The Broken Circle Breakdown, and The Zookeeper's Wife.

Belgian political theorist and author Chantal Mouffe has also been a professor at the University of Westminster and been a visiting faculty at various prestigious institutes, such as Harvard and Cornell. She is known for her prominent criticism of the idea of deliberative democracy and belongs to the post-Marxist school of contemporary philosophy.

Jaco Van Dormael is a Belgian screenwriter, film director, and playwright. He is best known for making such films that focus on a sympathetic and respectful portrayal of people with physical and mental disabilities. Jaco Van Dormael is credited with making many award-winning films such as Maedeli la brèche, Toto le héros, and Mr. Nobody.

Julien Schoenaerts was a Flemish actor who is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of post-war Flanders and the Netherlands. In 2008, sculptor Wilfried Pas unveiled a statue of the actor on the Kerkstraat in Antwerp. Julien Schoenaerts is also known as the father of Matthias Schoenaerts. 

Flemish author Koenraad Elst, who calls himself a “secular humanist,” joined the Banaras Hindu University for his research on Hindu revivalism, after spending his initial years as a hippie. He is known for promoting the Out of India theory, which states the ancient Aryans had originated from the Indian subcontinent.

Eric Godon is a Belgian actor, writer, and director. Godon discovered his passion for acting in his late-30s prior to which he had taken up various jobs in different fields. After making his acting debut at the age of 41, Eric Godon has been a part of many French and Belgian movies.

Belgian-born American Conservative Catholic philosopher Alice von Hildebrand had also been a professor at Hunter College for almost 4 decades. She was often critical of gay rights and abortion rights. Though discriminated against in her early career for being a woman, she later criticized feminism, too, and stressed on femininity.

Philip Coppens was a Belgian author, radio host, TV personality, and commentator. He is best known for producing work related to alternative history and fringe science. He is best known for his appearances on the popular American television series, Ancient Aliens. As a writer, Philip Coppens contributed immensely to magazines like Atlantis Rising and Nexus.

Belgian author and lawyer Paul Otlet went down in history as the man predicted the emergence of the internet as a world-wide information network over 50 years before its arrival. He also laid down the Universal Decimal Classification and penned the iconic book Traité de Documentation.

Fernand Khnopff was a Belgian painter whose works gained him recognition and helped achieve a cult status during his lifetime. He was honored with the prestigious Order of Leopold for his immense contribution to Symbolism.

Bestselling Belgian author, painter, and filmmaker Hugo Claus penned a wide range of literary gems, including poems, novels, and plays, and rose to be one of his country’s finest literary figures. Known for his masterpiece The Sorrow of Belgium, the author chose to be euthanized after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Noël Godin is a Belgian writer, actor, and critic. A notorious pie thrower, Godin achieved international fame in 1998 when he surprised Bill Gates in Brussels by throwing a pie on the software magnate. Noël Godin is credited with popularizing the so called pie attacks in Belgium. 

Marcel Broodthaers was primarily a poet till 40, after which he focused on visual arts. One of his exhibitions showcased copies of his book Pense-Bête, encased in plaster. Over the years, he experimented with painting, printmaking, and film, too. He also headed the Musée d’Art Moderne, Département des Aigles.

Morris was a Belgian cartoonist and illustrator who created a popular comic series titled Lucky Luke, which remained a bestselling series for over five decades. The comic series was also translated into 23 languages. Morris is often ranked amongst the Greatest Belgians of all time. 

Dominique Abel is a Belgian actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his collaboration with his wife Fiona Gordon; they work together as a writing and directing team. Some of their films, such as The Fairy and Lost in Paris, have received critical acclaim and nominations at the Magritte Awards.

Belgian romantic novelist Hendrik Conscience was one of the pioneers of the Flemish novel. Best remembered for his historical fiction The Lion of Flanders, he had also penned tales on urban and rural life. He had also been a local politician, a museum curator, and a district commissioner.

Suzanne Lilar was a Flemish Belgian novelist, essayist, and playwright who wrote in French. The recipient of several literary awards, Lilar is perhaps best remembered for her essays which include topics like feminism and sexuality. From 1952 to 1992, Suzanne Lilar was one of the most important members of the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature.

A Belgian-Canadian singer, writer and record producer, Rick Alison is known for his musical collaborations with one of the bestselling Belgian artists, Lara Fabian. The two together gave hit albums like Carpe Diem, Pure and Nue. He is also known for producing singer Chimène Badi's debut album Entre nous and composing songs for various other French and French-Canadian singers. 

Dutch poet Philips of Marnix is best remembered for his translation of the Psalms. He managed to anger the Roman Catholics with his works such as The Beehive of the Roman Catholic Church and thus spent a year as a prisoner. It’s believed that he wrote the Dutch national anthem, Wilhelmus van Nassouwe.

Christian Dotremont was a Belgian poet and painter best remembered for founding the Revolutionary Surrealist Group in 1946. He is also credited with co-founding an influential European avant-garde movement called COBRA. Christian Dotremont is also remembered for his painted poems which he called logograms. 

Belgian poet and graphic artist Sophie Podolski is best known for her only published book during her lifetime, Le pays où tout est permis. A patient of schizophrenia, she had been to psychiatric clinics and had issues with drugs. She eventually tried committing suicide and died 10 days later.

Felix Timmermans was a Belgian author whose works earned him three nominations for the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature over the course of his illustrious career. A versatile writer, Timmermans wrote plays, religious works, historical novels, and poems. He was also a drawer and painter. Felix Timmermans is also one of the most translated authors from Flanders.