David Grégoire Van Reybrouck (born 11 September 1971, in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

cultural historian Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...

, archaeologist and author. He writes historical fiction, literary non-fiction, novels, poetry, plays and academic texts. He has received several Dutch literary prizes, including AKO Literature Prize (2010) and Libris History Prize.

Background and education

Van Reybrouck was born into a family of

florists Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers and related sup ...

bookbinders A bookbinder is someone who binds books. Bookbinder may also refer to: *Alan Bookbinder (born 1956), British journalist and Master of Downing College, Cambridge * Elaine Bookbinder (born 1945), singer better known as Elkie Brooks * Roy Bookbinder ...

and artists. His father, a farmer's son, spent five years in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a railway engineer immediately after independence. He holds a doctorate from Leiden University.

Writings

Van Reybrouck's first book, '' De Plaag'' (in English:'' The Plague''), was a cross between a travelogue and a literary whodunnit set in post-apartheid South Africa. It received several awards, including the prize for the best Flemish debut in 2002 and a shortlist nomination for the Gouden Uil, one of the leading literary prizes in the Low Countries. It was translated into Afrikaans, French and Hungarian. A longtime op-ed writer for the Flemish national newspaper ''

De Morgen ''De Morgen'' (Dutch for ''The Morning'') is a Flemish newspaper with a circulation of 53,860. The paper is published in Antwerp, Belgium. History and profile ''De Morgen'' originates from a merger in 1978 of two socialist newspapers ' (meaning ...

'', Van Reybrouck has co-edited a volume on the federal future of Belgium (''What Belgium Stands For: a Scenario, 2007'') and a thought-provoking pamphlet, '' Pleidooi voor populisme'' (''A Plea for Populism'', 2008), which was met with controversy. The latter won the Netherlands' most distinguished essay prize. His book ''Congo. Een geschiedenis'' (in English: '' Congo: The Epic History of a People'') was published in 2010. Over the years, Van Reybrouck has travelled extensively throughout Africa. The book is as much the result of his ten journeys through the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

as of the months spent in libraries and archives. He has interviewed hundreds of individuals, with a particular predilection for so-called "ordinary people", precisely because their lives and choices are so often extraordinary. The book portrays slavery and colonialism, resistance and survival. It includes archival material, interviews and personal observations. ''Congo. Een geschiedenis'' has been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Danish and Finnish. Van Reybrouck has also been actively involved in organising literary workshops for Congolese playwrights in Kinshasa and

Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the ...

. In 2020 he published ''Revolusi'' which applies to Indonesia the method he used in ''Congo'' - a combination of interviews with Indonesian Nationalists and genocide perpetrators that live in complete impunity. Discussing the events that lead to start of Indonesia's military dictatorship, with historical interpretation. In his book ''Against Elections: The Case for Democracy'' he advocates for a deliberative democracy based on

sortition In governance, sortition (also known as selection by lottery, selection by lot, allotment, demarchy, stochocracy, aleatoric democracy, democratic lottery, and lottocracy) is the selection of political officials as a random sample from a larger ...

Awards and honors

*2004, Taalunie Toneelschrijfprijs *2007, Royal Academy of Dutch language and literature *2008,

Ark Prize of the Free Word The Arkprijs van het Vrije Woord (Ark Prize of the Free Word) is a symbolic award created in 1951 by Herman Teirlinck and the editorial team of the ''Nieuw Vlaams Tijdschrift'' (New Flemish magazine) to counteract ideologically driven restrictions ...

, ''Missie'' (play) *2010, AKO Literature Prize, ''Congo'' *2012,

Prix Médicis essai Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who als ...

, ''Congo'' *2014,

Gouden Ganzenveer The Gouden Ganzenveer ("Golden goose quill") is a Dutch cultural award initiated in 1955, given annually to a person or organization of great significance to the written and printed word. Recipients are selected by an academy of people from the cul ...

*2015,

Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad ho ...

Saint-Louis University, Brussels Saint-Louis University, Brussels or UCLouvain Saint-Louis Brussels (officially, in French Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles) is a public university in Brussels, belonging to the French Community of Belgium and specialized in social and huma ...

*2017, European Book Prize, fiction for ''Zink''. Although a work of non-fiction, it won the fiction category. *2018,

European Press Prize The European Press Prize is an award programme for excellence in journalism across all 47 countries of Europe. It was founded in 2012 by seven European media foundations: The Guardian Foundation, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Jyllands-Posten Found ...

, nominated with "Should media report differently in the wake of attacks? Think about it and join the discussion!"

Publications (English)

*2000, ''From Primitives to Primates. A history of ethnographic and primatological analogies in the study of prehistory''. Leiden, Sidestone Press, 2012. (Dissertation Leiden University, 2000). *2008, ''Missie'' (play) *2014, '' Congo: The Epic History of a People''. Transl. by Sam Garrett. HarperCollins, 2014. *2015, ''The First World War Now'' *2016, ''Against Elections: The Case for Democracy'',

Publication (Dutch)

*2016, essay "Zink" about

Neutral Moresnet Neutral Moresnet (, , , ) was a small Belgian–Prussian condominium in western Europe that existed from 1816 to 1920 and was administered jointly by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (Belgium after its independence in 1830) and the Kingdom ...

. *2020, ''Revolusi - Indonesië en het ontstaan van de moderne wereld'', De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam 2020,

References

''This article is wholly or partly based on material from

Dutch Wikipedia The Dutch Wikipedia ( nl, Nederlandstalige Wikipedia) is the Dutch-language edition of the free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. It was founded on 19 June 2001. As of , the Dutch Wikipedia is the -largest Wikipedia edition, with articles. It w ...

External links

David van Reybrouck's personal website

David van Reybrouck's publisher's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reybrouck, David Van Flemish writers Belgian archaeologists Historians of Africa 21st-century Belgian historians Prix Médicis essai winners Writers from Bruges 1971 births Living people