Maurice Maeterlinck

Maurice Maeterlinck, born in Ghent on 29 August 1862 and dead on 6 May 1949, was a Belgian playwright, poet and essayist who was Flemish by origin but wrote in French. A law graduate of the University of Ghent, he met the Symbolists in Paris and became famous in 1890 with Princess Maleine, followed by symbolist plays of fatalism and mysticism such as The Intruder, The Blind and Pelléas and Mélisande. His fairy play The Blue Bird was his greatest popular success, and his essays include The Life of the Bee. His plays form an important part of the Symbolist movement. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, and the Catholic Church placed his collected works on the Index in 1914. Late in life he faced credible accusations of plagiarism.