August A. Keersmaekers

August Albert Keersmaekers (1920–2009) was a Belgian literary scholar, with a particular interest in Dutch-language literature of the 17th through to early 20th centuries, and the literature of the Kempen. He identified a number of poems by Gerbrand Bredero, which had been assumed to reflect incidents in the poet's own life, as translations of French originals, fundamentally changing the understanding of Bredero's character and literary career.

Life Keersmaekers was born in Retie on 26 October 1920, the youngest of five children in a farming family. He was educated at the local primary school and then at the Minor Seminary in Hoogstraten. In 1938 the family moved to Arendonk, and August matriculated at the Catholic University of Leuven. During his years as a student he was also involved in literary and cultural activities. In 1942 he graduated Licentiate in Germanic Philology, with an additional certificate for teaching in secondary education.