The Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique - Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium - or ARLLFB is a Belgian institution which brings together personalities who, through their works, writings, lectures or speeches, have contributed most eminently to the

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...

of the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in N ...

, either by studying its origins and its evolution, or by publishing works of imagination or criticism. It includes both Belgian and foreign members. The Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium, also named the "Destréenne", was founded in 1920 by king

Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. Born in Brussels as the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern ...

, at the suggestion of

Jules Destrée Jules Destrée (; Marcinelle, 21 August 1863 – Brussels, 3 January 1936) was a Walloon lawyer, cultural critic and socialist politician. The trials subsequent to the strikes of 1886 determined his commitment within the Belgian Labour Party. ...

, minister in charge of Science and Arts. It should not be confused with the Royal Academy of Belgium, the "Teresian", founded in 1772 by Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Founding principles

There are three founding principles: * It will bring together imaginative writers, novelists, playwrights, poets and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...

s, in a broad sense, specialists of ancient texts, grammarians, linguists and historians of literature. Principle justified in the following terms: "The total meaning of a language is revealed only in terms of its constant transformation." * The second: the Academy should elect foreign members not only from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, but also from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, French-speaking

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, from all countries where the French language is "spoken, honored, cultivated, and which are like the intellectual provinces of French civilization". * Third: the Academy should include female members: "women of letters gave too many unquestionable proofs of talent to think of removing them from a literary society".

History and composition

The initial nucleus of the Academy named ten writers: Henri Carton de Wiart,

Georges Eekhoud Georges Eekhoud (27 May 1854 – 29 May 1927) was a Belgian novelist of Flemish descent, but writing in French. Eekhoud was a regionalist best known for his ability to represent scenes from rural and urban daily life. He tended to portray the ...

Iwan Gilkin Iwan Gilkin (7 January 1858 – 28 September 1924) was a Belgian poet. Born in Brussels, Gilkin was associated with the Symbolist school in Belgium. His works include ''Les ténèbres'' (1892, featuring a frontispiece by Odilon Redon) and ''Le S ...

, Albert Giraud,

Hubert Krains Hubert Krains (1862–1934) was a Belgian author. Life Born in Brussels, Krains became a member of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique. He wrote essays and became famous with ''Portraits d'écrivains belges'' ...

, Maurice Maeterlinck,

Albert Mockel Albert Mockel (27 December 1866 – 30 January 1945) was a Belgian Symbolist poet. Born in Ougrée, he was the editor of '' La Wallonie'', an influential journal of Belgian, and even European, Symbolism. He died in January 1945 in Ixelles ...

, :fr:Fernand Séverin,

Paul Spaak Paul Louis François Spaak (5 July 1871 – 8 May 1936) was a Belgian lawyer, poet, literary historian, and playwright. Born in Ixelles, Spaak graduated in law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in 1894. On 22 July 1894, he married Marie ...

, :fr:Gustave Vanzype. And for the philological section, its first four members were representatives of the

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far fro ...

school of philology: :fr:Maurice Wilmotte, :fr:Auguste Doutrepont, Jules Feller and

Jean Haust Jean Haust ( Verviers, 10 February 1868– Liège, 23 November 1946) was a Belgian academic, linguist and philologist. He was a professor at the University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a ...

. The autonomy of the Academy is assured by the recommendation that the elections take place by co-optation. Its composition is defined as follows: thirty members of Belgian origin, including twenty literary writers and ten philologists; Ten foreign members, including six writers and four philologists for a total of forty members. In the year following creation, the newly invited members included

Anna de Noailles Anna, Comtesse Mathieu de Noailles (Anna Elisabeth Bibesco-Bassaraba de Brancovan) (15 November 1876 – 30 April 1933) was a French writer of Romanian and Greek descent, a poet and a socialist feminist. Biography Personal life Born Princess ...

, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Swiss novelist :fr:Benjamin Vallotton and the French grammarian Ferdinand Brunot. From its foundation to the present day, the Academy has counted one hundred and twenty-four Belgian members, of whom eleven were women, and forty-nine foreign members from either France, Switzerland, Italy, the United States, Romania, Quebec, Great Britain, China, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Israel, The Netherlands, Peru or Sweden. * The Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium also awards literary prizes. Actualitte.com, Remise des Prix à l'académie Royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique 1920 establishments in Belgium Organizations established in 1920 Belgique, Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises Organisations based in Brussels Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage French language