Victor Amédée Jacques Marie Coremans (5 October 1802 – 23 October 1872) was a Belgian

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can cons ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. He supported the

Flemish Movement The Flemish Movement (, ) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgium, Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought to promote Flemis ...

, advocating nationhood for

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

Life and career

Victor was born in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

on 5 October 1802, the son of Jacques-Jean Coremans, a judge, and Anne-Marie Vandersande. In 1821 he was banished from Vienna for sedition. In 1824 he edited the ''Erlanger Zeitung''. From 1831 to 1832, while living in Munich, he published and edited the

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

radical newspaper ''Die Freie Presse'' (The Free Press). The Bavarian authorities responded by laying political charges on him, for which he was imprisoned. While in prison he wrote three German-language books that were well-received in Germany: ''Die Stimme aus dem Kerker'' (The Voice from the Dungeon), ''Kerkerblumen'' (Dungeon Flowers), and ''Die göttlichen Befreier'' (The Divine Liberator). After his release he spent some time in Switzerland before returning to his native Belgium. On 13 April 1836, he was appointed as a collaborator to the newly created ''

Commission royale d'Histoire The Commission royale d'Histoire (in French) or Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis (in Dutch) is the Belgian Royal Historical Commission. It was founded by royal decree on 22 July 1834. The Commission initially published their proceedings un ...

'' in Brussels. His task was to make the German collection in the

National Archives of Belgium The National Archives of Belgium (; ; ; all ) is the main depository of the State Archives (Belgium), State Archives of Belgium (''Archives de l'État''; ''Rijksarchief''). It is located on the /, next to the Mont des Arts, Mont des Arts/Kunstberg ...

available for research. He published some of his own findings from the archives in several publications. His scholarly writing addressed various topics in the history, culture, and politics of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, Germany, and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. He published scholarly pieces in the ''Bulletin de la Commission royale d'histoire'' (1844–1847) and in the ''Revue d'histoire et d'archéologie'' (1860–1863). One article examined the origins and permutations of the legendary monarch

Gambrinus Gambrinus ( ) is a legendary European culture hero celebrated as an icon of beer, brewing, joviality, and '' joie de vivre''. Typical representations in the visual arts depict him as a rotund, bearded duke or king, holding a tankard or mug, a ...

. Throughout his later career he continued to promote

liberal nationalism Civic nationalism, otherwise known as democratic nationalism, is a form of nationalism that adheres to traditional liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, and individual rights, and is not based on ethnocentrism. Civic nationalists of ...

, and especially Flemish nationhood, through his writing in such journals as ''Vlaamsch België'', ''De Noordstar'', and ''De Zweep''. On 7 August 1872, he retired from the National Archives. He died in

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

on 23 October 1872.

Life and career

See also

References

Further reading