Johan Anthierens (22 August 1937 – 20 March 2000) was a Belgian journalist, columnist, publicist, critic and writer. He became notorious because of his socially conscious columns, as well as his equally controversial opinions during interviews. He published both in ''

HUMO ''Humo'' (stylized in all caps) is a popular Dutch-language Belgian weekly radio and television magazine. History and profile ''Humoradio'' (meaning a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio' in English) was first published in 1936 as a Dutch-langua ...

'' as well as '' Knack'' and founded his own short-lived satirical magazine, ' in 1982-1985. The general public got to know him thanks to his television appearances, both as panel member in the quiz '' De Wies Andersen Show'' and as interviewer in the talkshow ''Noord-Zuid'' (''North-South''). Due to his confrontational criticism of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

, the

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

, the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

, the establishment and the

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

movement Anthierens had both a lot of admirers as well as many enemies. Still, together with and , he was widely regarded as one of the "Big Three" of Flemish critical journalism.

Press career

Anthierens was born at

Machelen Machelen () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the towns of Diegem and Machelen proper. On 1 January 2006, Machelen had a total population of 12,500. The total area ...

(

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( ; ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also ...

) in 1937 as part of a huge family with seven daughters and five sons. He was the youngest of the family. His older brothers Karel Anthierens and Jef Anthierens also became famous journalists in Flanders. Thanks to them he became chief design for ''HUMO'' in the 1950s and 1960s, but also worked for ''De Post'' and ''Mimo''. In the 1970s he received his own

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

in ''Knack'', where he initially was only supposed to review TV shows, but after a while he used it as an outlet for every subject in society that bothered him, always written with a healthy dose of

irony Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...

and

sarcasm Sarcasm is the caustic use of words, often in a humorous way, to mock someone or something. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although it is not necessarily ironic. Most noticeable in spoken word, sarcasm is mainly distinguished by the inflectio ...

. Many readers wrote letters of complaint and after a while no magazine was willing to let him publish on their pages anymore.Obituary in "De Standaard", March 27, 2000, page 3. In 1960 he and Eddy Ryssack also made a comic strip, ''De geheime avonturen van Kapitein Matthias'' (''The secret adventures of Captain Matthias''), based on the popularity of the TV show ''

Schipper naast Mathilde Schipper naast Mathilde ('' Skipper next to Mathilde'') was a Flemish TV sitcom, broadcast between 1955 and 1963 on the Flemish public service TV station N.I.R. (nowadays the VRT). At the time it was tremendously successful and it is well regar ...

''. The comic was published in ''HUMO''.

Radio and television

Anthierens was known for his love of

chanson A (, ; , ) is generally any Lyrics, lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval music, medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of ...

, especially the anarchic lyrics of

Léo Ferré Léo Ferré (; 24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer. He released some forty albums over this period, composing the music and the majority of the lyrics. He released ...

Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; ; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and ...

and

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world ...

. In the 1960s he presented his own radioshow, ''Charme van het Chanson'' on public radio and played both French-language songs as well as Dutch and Flemish kleinkunst. He provoked the censors by giving a banned song by Ferré airplay and ducked another ban by reading the lyrics of

Hugo Raspoet Hugo Raspoet (2 November 1940 – 3 October 2018) was a Flemish kleinkunst singer and guitarist. He is most famous for his signature song "Helena (Hugo Raspoet song), Helena" (1970) and the controversial song "Evviva Il Papa" (1969), which was ban ...

's anti-papal song " Evviva Il Papa" out loud rather than play the song. Anthierens was fired afterwards. In 1998 Anthierens would write a biography about Brel, called "De passie en de pijn" ("The passion and the pain"), which was a personal declaration of his love for the man's music, complete with interviews he conducted with him in the past. From 1976 on Anthierens was a panel member in the TV quiz show ''De Wies Andersen Show''. In the first episode he caused a media scandal by claiming: "I am happily divorced." Together with Monica Moritz and Guido Depraetere he presented "Bij Nader Inzien". In 1978 he hosted the talkshow ''Noord-Zuid'' (''North-South''), together with Dutch TV presenter

Mies Bouwman Maria Antoinette "Mies" Bouwman (31 December 1929 – 26 February 2018) was a Dutch television presenter. Career Born in Amsterdam, she started her career on the very first broadcasting evening of the Dutch broadcasting association KRO (Cathol ...

. In one episode Dutch singer

Vader Abraham Petrus Antonius Laurentius Kartner (11 April 1935 – 8 November 2022) was a Dutch musician, singer-songwriter and record producer who performed under the stage name Vader Abraham (''Father Abraham''). He wrote around 1600 songs. Early life an ...

was the guest of the evening. Anthierens made no secret of his hatred of the man's music and after he insinuated that the singer had not paid

Peyo Pierre Culliford (; 25 June 1928 – 24 December 1992) was a Belgian comics writer and artist who worked under the pseudonym Peyo (). His best-known works are the comic book series ''The Smurfs'' and '' Johan and Peewit'', in the latter of ...

the rights to make a hit song about

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (; ) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was created and introduced as a series of comic characters by ...

Abraham stood up and left the show in anger. This was not the first incident, as earlier he had also criticized

Will Tura Arthur Achiel Albert, Ridder (title), Knight Blanckaert (born 2 August 1940 in Veurne), known by his stage name Will Tura, is a Belgian artist considered as the most successful Flemish-speaking singer of the 20th century. Famous in Flanders and th ...

and

Leo Tindemans Leonard Clemence "Leo" Tindemans (; 16 April 1922 – 26 December 2014) was a Belgian politician. He served as the prime minister of Belgium from 25 April 1974 until he resigned as minister on 20 October 1978. He was a member of the Christian D ...

, but Abraham's departure caused such a media storm that Anthierens was fired. Bouwman was offered to continue the show with a different host, but she declined this offer and thus the entire program was cancelled.

De Zwijger

In 1982 Anthierens quit his job at ''Knack'' to start his own magazine, ''De Zwijger'' (''The Silent One''). It was inspired by ''

Le Canard Enchaîné (; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism ...

'' and intended as a satirical and opinionated news magazine. Unfortunately it remained nothing more than a cult magazine and as Anthierens was unable to combine his writings with running the magazine in general it was disestablished in 1985.

Later years

Anthierens had made so many enemies over the years that he hardly found work in other magazines. He was allowed back on television, however, and made a travel show about his idols

Willem Elsschot Alphonsus Josephus de Ridder (7 May 1882 – 31 May 1960) was a Belgian writer and poet who wrote under the pseudonym Willem Elsschot (). One of the most prominent Flemish authors, his most famous work, ''Cheese'' (1933) is the most translated F ...

and

, about whom he also wrote books, one published in 1992, the other in 1998. In 1994 he was co-presenter of the archive show "Gisteren Gekeken?" (1994-1996). During his later years he was best known for writing personal essays and books criticizing the Belgian

, the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, commercialization and sensationalism in Flemish media and the rise of the far-right. He also wrote a book about , a Flemish collaborator during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

("Zonder Vlagvertoon") and the resistance leader Albert Vandamme. He also wrote the text for a book about GAL, one of his friends. Anthierens was also popular in the Netherlands and a frequent guest in the Amsterdam Center for Flemish Culture ". He also published in ''

de Volkskrant ''De Volkskrant'' (; ), stylized as de Volkskrant, is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium- ...

''.

Death

In 2000 Anthierens died at the age of 62 of

Hodgkin's disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

. At his funeral GAL was one of the pall-bearers.

Recognition

* 1975: Yang Prize for his weekly column in ''Knack'' * 1979: First Geuzen Prize for 'the independence with which he attacked dogmas and narrow-mindedness as a journalist and author'.

Bibliography

;Works (a selection) *1976 ''De flauwgevallen priester op mijn tong: vijftien op prijs gestelde Ooggetuige-kronieken'', ''Knack'' – jaargang 1975. Walter Soethoudt, Antwerpen. *1986 ''Het Belgische domdenken: smaadschrift'', Kritak, Leuven. *1990 ''Brief aan een postzegel: kritisch koningsboek'', Kritak, Leuven (about the monarchy). *1992 ''

. Het Ridderspoor'', Kritak, Leuven. *1993 ''Tricolore tranen: Boudewijn en het augustusverdriet'', EPO, Berchem. *1995 ''Vaarwel, mijn 1995'', EPO, Berchem. *1995 ''Zonder vlagvertoon'', Van Halewijck, Leuven (about the Resistance during WW2). *1996 ''De overspannen jaren. Opgetekend van 1960 tot 1996'' (met Gerard Alsteens), EPO, Berchem. *1996 ''De

IJzertoren The Yser Towers () are a monument complex near the Yser, Yser river at Diksmuide, West Flanders in Belgium. The first tower was built in 1928–30 to commemorate the Belgian soldiers killed on the surrounding Yser Front during World War I and a ...

. Onze trots en onze schande'', Van Halewijck, Leuven. *1998 ''

. De passie en de pijn'', L. J. Veen, Amsterdam. ;Autobiography *2003 ''Leve Mij . Niemands meester, niemands knecht (part 1)'' (compiled by Brigitte Raskin & Karel Anthierens), Van Halewijck, Leuven. *2005 ''Ooggetuige. Niemands meester, niemands knecht (part 2)'', Van Halewijck, Leuven.