VERSCHAEVE, CYRIEL. - Flemish priest and spiritual poet, born at Ardooie (West Flanders) on 30 April 1874, died in exile at Hall (Tyrol) on 8 November 1949.
He completed his classical and philosophical studies at Roeselare and his theological studies at Bruges, where he was ordained priest in 1877. From his youth he was directly influenced by Gezelle (q.v.), Hugo Verriest, and Rodenbach, leaders of the new Flemish generation (Vlaamse Beweging). From 1897 to 1911 he taught rhetoric at Tielt, where he published his first literary works. In 1911 Verschave became assistant parish priest at Alveringhem, and the story of his life became intertwined with that of his thought and writings. Already during the First World War he had supported Flemish soldiers maltreated in the rear by their own officers; between the wars Flemish youth drew from his writings and speeches the ideal of a religious and moral, spiritual and cultural, social and national revival. During the Second World War, moved purely by idealism, he resolutely fought the enemies of his unrecognised people and of the Church threatened by atheistic communism. In 1946 the Belgian military court ignominiously condemned him to death. But Verschave had already fled into exile. He survives in the esteem of the Flemish people.
Verschave is essentially “the eagle of greatness.” His manifold works (poems, dramas, essays, and novels) incessantly probe the mystery of the human being, torn between the passions of greatness and wretchedness, yet reached by the divine breath. His personal mediation, enriched by continuous study of the great minds of humanity, sought to penetrate the mystery through a synthesis of speculation and feeling. His language is of rare richness. Despite its defects, Verschave remains the genius who illuminates his century and his people.