Philipp Blommaert
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Philipp Blommaert (Ghent, 24 August 1809 - 14 August 1871) was a Belgian writer. He earned his living as a private scholar and was as a friend and comrade of Hendrik Conscience in favor for the Flemish language in Belgium. Already since 1834 he had poems written for the Flemish magazine Letteroefeningen in Flemish, but with little success because of their rough language.
Of more importance was the publication of Flemish poems from the 12.-14. Century, such as Theophilus (Ghent 1836, 2. edition 1858), and Oudvlaemsche gedichten (1838-1851, 3 Volumes.), as well as a Dutch translation of the Nibelungenlied in jambic verse.
His most famous work is however is the Aloude geschiedenis der Belgen of Nederduitschers (Ghent 1849), where he gave his opinion that the neather-German areas are destined, despite their political divisions, to the fulfillment of a high cultural-historical idea. Together with Jan Frans Willems he worked for several Belgian magazines against the influence of the French language in Flanders, and in 1840 was one of the co-autors of the Vlaams petitionnement (E: Flemish petition) to support the Flemish cause in Belgium.
In 1860 he became a member the of the Royal Belgian Academy, where he took part in the work of the commission for the publication of a Flemish cultural monument. He had started working on the publication Jacob van Maerlant's just discovered poem Van Troyen when he died.
