207,380 profiles ranked

Maurice Maeterlinck

Belgian playwright and essayist (1862-1949) · Belgium · Writers · Died at 86

Maurice Maeterlinck is read about 552 times a day, in 93 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?
Compare

A Belgian who wrote fairy-tale plays in French about death, won the Nobel Prize in 1911 for "poetic fancy" that somehow stirred readers without saying things straight, then ended his career dodging plagiarism charges.

WritersWriter / AuthorLiteraturePoetryPhilosophyTheatreLaw19th Century

A life in dates

1949Died6 May 19491925Commander of the Legion of HonourAward1919“The future is a world limited by ourselves; in it we discover only what concerns us and, sometimes, by chance, what interests those whom we love the most.”In their wordsJoyzelle, Act i, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

“Men's weaknesses are often necessary to the purposes of life.”In their wordsJoyzelle, Act ii, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

“All our knowledge merely helps us to die a more painful death than the animals that know nothing.”In their wordsOur Eternity, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

“We possess, in the sacred and secret books of India, of which we know only an infinitesimal part, a cosmogony which no European conception has ever surpassed.”In their wordsMaurice Maeterlinck, in Mountain Paths (1919)

1911Nobel Prize in LiteratureAward1906“We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet: and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us.”In their wordsMy Dog (1906)

1902“For in truth all our justice, morality, all our thoughts and feelings, derive from three or four primordial necessities, whereof the principal one is food.”In their wordsCh. III: "The Kingdom of Matter", § 5

1862Born29 August 1862

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Picture of Maurice MaeterlinckPicture of Maurice MaeterlinckArena magazine - Volume 35 (1906) (14577957808)Arena magazine - Volume 35 (1906) (14577957808)Arnold Schönberg Herzgewächse Der blaue Reiter 1912 221Arnold Schönberg Herzgewächse Der blaue Reiter 1912 221CFP Maeterlinck, homme de lettresCFP Maeterlinck, homme de lettresCFP-2 Maeterlinck, MauriceCFP-2 Maeterlinck, MauriceDramatists of to-day- (1911) (14580574760)Dramatists of to-day- (1911) (14580574760)Envoi de MaeterlinckEnvoi de MaeterlinckGeorgette Leblanc-Maeterlinck-1910Georgette Leblanc-Maeterlinck-1910

In their own words 10

,
Maurice Maeterlinck
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. The future is a world limited by ourselves; in it we discover only what concerns us and, sometimes, by chance, what interests those whom we love the most.

    1919, Joyzelle, Act i, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919), Own words

  2. Men's weaknesses are often necessary to the purposes of life.

    1919, Joyzelle, Act ii, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919), Own words

  3. All our knowledge merely helps us to die a more painful death than the animals that know nothing.

    1919, Our Eternity, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Commander of the Legion of Honour1925
Nobel Prize in Literature1911
Grand Officer of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword

In their orbit 2

About this person

Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck was born on 29 August 1862, Flemish by birth but French by pen. He joined La Jeune Belgique and became a central figure in the Symbolist movement, writing plays that wrapped death and the meaning of life in mysterious, oblique language - the Nobel committee in 1911 praised his "wealth of imagination" and the way his dramas "appeal to the readers' own feelings and stimulate their imaginations" while often taking the guise of fairy tales. He was made a count in 1932. By later life, credible accusations of plagiarism shadowed the reputation. He died on 6 May 1949.

Country
Belgium
Category
Writers
Type
Writer / Author
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1862 to 1949 · aged 86

In common with Maurice

Maurice TourneurAlso in The Blue Bird (1918)Fern AndraAlso in The Burgomaster of Stilemonde (1929)Georgette LeblancAlso in Macbeth (1915)Suzanne BianchettiAlso in La Légende de sœur Béatrix (1923)Gertrude McCoyAlso in The Blue Bird (1918)Sandra MilovanoffAlso in La Légende de sœur Béatrix (1923)

Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.