Paul Van Ostaijen

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Vocation

Belgian poet and writer, whose nickname was Mister 1830, derived from his habit of walking along the streets of Antwerp clothed as a dandy from that year. His poetry shows influences from Modernism, Expressionism, Dadaism and early Surrealism, but Van Ostaijen's style is very much his own. Van Ostaijen was an active flamingant, a supporter of Flemish independence. Because of his involvement with Flemish activism during World War I, he had to flee to Berlin after the war. In Berlin — one of the centers of Dadaism and Expressionism — he met many other artists. He also struggled through a severe mental crisis. Upon returning to Belgium, Van Ostaijen opened an art gallery in Brussels. He died of tuberculosis on 18 March 1928 in a sanatorium in Miavoye-Anthée, in the Wallonian Ardennes. Link to Wikipedia biography