Symbolist poet and author known for his 1892 work Bruges-la-Morte. His other notable publications include La Vocation and Le Carillonneur.
He attended school at Sint-Barbaracollege in Ghent, Belgium. He published his first poetry volume, Le Foyer et les Champs, in 1877.
His masterpiece, Bruges-la-Morte, was transformed by the Composer Erich Korngold into an opera called Die Tote Stadt.
He was the son of a German father and a French mother. His cousin, Albrecht Rodenbach, was also a poet and Novelist.
His poem "Du silence" was referenced in a 2013 album by musician David Bowie.
