Education
He started his career a clerk of a notary, but afterwards studied law at the University of Ghent, where he graduated in 1832.
He started his career a clerk of a notary, but afterwards studied law at the University of Ghent, where he graduated in 1832.
In 1836, he became the archivist of the city of Ghent. At the beginning of his literary career, he wrote so-called national poetry, but his actual debut was with the poem Lofdicht op de Nederlandsche taal, which he wrote in 1829. He published his best poems in Het klaverblad (1848) and in Nazomer (1859).