Biography.guide
Home › People › Philosopher › Maurice De Wulf
Portrait of Maurice De Wulf

Maurice De Wulf

1867 – 1947

Belgian philosopher

Philosopher Philosophy historianUniversity teacher
Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About Maurice De Wulf

Lived 1867 – 1947 (aged 80). Maurice De Wulf was a Belgian philosopher, philosophy historian, university teacher and theologian.

Maurice Marie Charles Joseph De Wulf (1867–1947), was a Belgian Thomist philosopher, professor of philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven, was one of the pioneers of the historiography of medieval philosophy. His book History of Medieval Philosophy appeared first in 1900 and was followed by many other editions and translations.

Life and work Maurice De Wulf was born at Poperinghe, Belgium on 6 April 1867. He studied at the Catholic University of Leuven, where he became a Doctor of Thomistic Theology. He taught the history of medieval philosophy, logic, and criteriology. He was named an honorary president of the 1911 International Congress of Philosophy.

During the 1920s he taught at Harvard and his Philosophy and Civilization in the Middle Ages was published at Princeton in 1922. He was a Knight of the Order of Leopold, and a member of the Imperial and Royal Academy of Brussels, and the Administrative Council of the Royal Library of Belgium. De Wulf contributed articles relative to philosophy to the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Maurice De Wulf was a close friend of Cardinal Mercier. The "De Wulf-Mansion Centre for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy" was founded (1956) at the Institute of Philosophy in Leuven.

De Wulf retired to Poperinghe in late 1947, and died there on 23 December. 1901 - Le Traité De Unitate Formae de Gilles de Lessines (texte et étude) 1904 - Un Théologien-Philosophe du XIIIe. Étude sur la Vie, les œuvres et l'Influence de Godefroid de Fontaines 1910 - Histoire de la Philosophie en Belgique 1915 - Guerre et Philosophie 1920 - L'Œuvre d'Art et la Beauté 1922 - Philosophy and Civilization in the Middle Ages (Princeton University Press) 1932 - Initiation à la Philosophie Thomiste

Works in English translation Scholasticism Old and New,, translated by Peter Coffey, M. H. Gill & Son, Ltd., 1907. An Introduction to Scholastic Philosophy, Medieval and Modern, Dover Publications, Inc., 1956. An Introduction to Scholastic Philosophy, Medieval and Modern, Editiones Scholasticae, 2012. Mediaeval Philosophy: Illustrated from the System of Thomas Aquinas, Harvard University Press, 1922. The System of Thomas Aquinas, Dover Publications, Inc., 1959. The System of Thomas Aquinas, Editiones Scholasticae, 2013. Philosophy and Civilization in the Middle Ages, Princeton University Press, 1922. Philosophy and Civilization in the Middle Ages, Editiones Scholasticae, 2013. History of Mediaeval Philosophy, Longmans, Green & Co., 1909. History of Mediaeval Philosophy, Dover Publications, Inc., 1952. Art and Beauty, Herder, 1950.

Articles "Western Philosophy and Theology in the Thirteenth Century," The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. XI, 1918. "The Teaching of Philosophy and the Classification of the Sciences in the Thirteenth Century," The Philosophical Review, Vol. 27, No. 4, Jul., 1918. "The Society of Nations in the Thirteenth Century," International Journal of Ethics, Vol. XXIX, 1919. "The Autonomy of Mediaeval Philosophy," The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 16, No. 2, Apr., 1923. "Mystic Life and Mystic Speculation in the Heart of the Middle Ages," The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 9, No. 2, Jul., 1923.

Other "Scholasticism." In Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. XIII, The Macmillan Company, 1934.

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
Catholic University of Leuven (1835–1968)
Employers
Harvard University, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Awards
Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great; Officier de l'Instruction publique; Corresponding Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America; Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown; Honorary doctor of the University of Poitiers; Doctor honoris causa from the University of Grenoble; Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold

People in Maurice De Wulf's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Maurice De Wulf's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Maurice De Wulf?

Belgian philosopher (1867–1947)

When was Maurice De Wulf born?

Maurice De Wulf was born on 6 April 1867 in Poperinge.

When did Maurice De Wulf die?

Maurice De Wulf died on 23 December 1947 in Poperinge.

What was Maurice De Wulf's occupation?

Maurice De Wulf was a philosopher, philosophy historian, university teacher and theologian.

What nationality was Maurice De Wulf?

Maurice De Wulf was Belgian.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Maurice De Wulf

· Wikidata: Q2746354

· DBpedia: Maurice De Wulf

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Maurice De Wulf. https://biography.guide/maurice-de-wulf/

MLA: "Maurice De Wulf." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/maurice-de-wulf/.

Chicago: "Maurice De Wulf." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/maurice-de-wulf/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-22 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Portrait: Wikimedia Commons · author & licence

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:01 UTC