Maurice Maeterlinck was born on 29 August 1862 in Ghent. A Belgian playwright and essayist who wrote in French, Maeterlinck was a leading figure of Symbolism in the theatre. His plays Pelleas and Melisande, The Blue Bird and The Intruder presented a mysterious, dreamlike world in which the characters are moved by unseen forces such as fate and death. Pelleas and Melisande inspired Debussy's opera and music by Faure and Sibelius. He also wrote essays on nature and philosophy, among them The Life of the Bee. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. He lived in France and later fled to the United States during the Second World War.
Before and after
- 24 July 1862Death of Martin Van Buren
- from 14 August 1862 to 10 October 1862Confederate Heartland Offensive
- from 17 August 1862 to 26 December 1862Dakota War of 1862
- 22 August 1862Birth of Claude Debussy
- 29 August 1862Birth of Maurice Maeterlinck
- 17 September 1862Battle of Antietam
- 15 November 1862Birth of Gerhart Hauptmann
- from 31 December 1862 to 2 January 1863Battle of Stones River
- 1863Discovery of indium
More in Art, literature & culture
- from 18th century to 19th centuryRomanticism
- 1 November 1800Construction of White House
- 1886Statue of Liberty
- c. 1900sRise of modernism
- 1907Rise of cubism
- c. 1910sRise of Dada
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.