Patricia De Martelaere

Patricia De Martelaere (16 April 1957 – 4 March 2009 ) was a Flemish philosopher, professor, author and essayist. Born in Zottegem, Belgium, her full name was Patricia Marie Madeleine Godelieve. She graduated in philosophy from the Catholic University of Leuven and then taught and lectured there and at the Catholic University of Brussels.

She died in Wezemaal on 4 March 2009 at the age of 51 from complications of a brain tumor.

Academic career De Martelaere studied philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven, where she received her PhD in 1984; the topic of her dissertation is the skepticism of David Hume. She became a professor in the philosophy department there, teaching Contemporary Philosophy, the Philosophy of Language, and Taoism, while publishing articles on Hume, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Freud, Wittgenstein, Derrida, Laozi (Lao-Tzu or Lao-tze), and Zhuangzi. She also served as a professor at the Catholic University in Brussels for the 2007–08 academic year. She was awarded an honorary doctorate for her lifetime achievements on 29 January 2009, during the 20th anniversary observance at the University for Humanistic Studies in Utrecht.

Author De Martelaere was known not only for her academic work, but also as an author of novels and essays. She made her literary debut at age fourteen with the youth novel King of the Jungle. Her first novel for adults was Nachtboek van een slapeloze (Night Book of an Insomniac) published in Belgium in 1988 and awarded the Prize for Best Debut. She then published De schilder en zijn model (The Painter and His Model, 1989), Littekens (Scars, 1990), and De staart (The Tail, 1992). In 1994 her collection of essays Een verlangen naar ontroostbaarheid (A Longing for Inconsolability) received the J. Greshoff Award. In 1997 she published another essay collection, Verrassingen (Surprises), which earned her the Belgian State Prize for Essay and Criticism. In 2004, more than a decade after her previous novel, she unexpectedly published Het onverwachte antwoord (The Unexpected Answer), which was nominated for both the AKO and Libris Literature Prizes and won the audience award at the Golden Owl.

Stefan Hertmans, De Morgen called her "a literary essayist--not only because of the attractive, almost Montaigne-like form she uses when writing her essays, but also because of the place she insists on reserving for art, dreams, and desire in her critical mental exercises. Time and again she provides a convenient gloss of a major theory which she then uses as a basis to logically justify her commentary or to subtly push the reasoning one step further."

Literary Themes De Martelaere was reluctant to seek publicity and preferred her work to speak for itself. She rarely gave interviews, instead writing essays and giving lectures about her field, ideas, work as an author. Her primary theme was to examine with great lucidity and philosophical insight the world of everyday life, death, and change, including both scientific and literary perspectives. Her literary works were realized by observing reality and processing her observations into ideas and metaphors. In one of her rare interviews she described her method as "plagiarizing reality."

She achieved considerable success in Flanders and the Netherlands with her first collection of essays, Een verlangen naar ontroostbaarheid (A Longing for Inconsolability: About Life, Art and Death), with sales over 15,000 copies. De Martelaere treats ostensibly difficult subjects such as Wittgenstein, Freud, art, religion, diaries, and love in ways that are philosophically serious without alienating the general reader. One review hails "her obstinacy, perverse and infectious sense of humour, courtly style, and deep erudition." 2000 – Flemish Culture Prize for essay and criticism (1997-1999) for – Surprises, 1997 2005 – Golden Owl Literature Reader's Prize for The unexpected answer, 2004 2009 – Honorary Doctorate from University for Humanist Studies in Utrecht 2009 – Best magazine article in 2009 for "You Exist?", Celt prize organized by nonprofit umbrella organization of the Flemish Cultural and literary magazines, in collaboration with Knack.