Burniaux, Constant

(1892-1975)

   Born in Brussels on 1 August 1892, French-language writer Constant Burniaux settled with his family in Linkebeek, a small village southwest of Brussels, in 1899, but moved back to Brussels in 1906. He served as a stretcher bearer in World War I, and his wartime experiences formed the basis of his first book Sensations et souvenirs de la guerre (Sensations and memories of the war [1914-1918]), which appeared in 1920. He achieved his first literary success with La bêtise (The idiocy) in 1925. Noted for his precise detail of language, Burniaux evokes in his writing a desire to escape bourgeois life, which, although materially comfortable, is oftentimes monotonous and stifling. Several of his works deal with memories of his childhood in Linkebeek, including Village (1935), Clémence (1944), and kaloo ou Le village imaginé (Kalloo or the imagined village [1973]). Burniaux died in Brussels on 9 February 1975.