(b Geraardsbergen, nr Ronse, 26 Oct 1921). Belgian sculptor. He studied drawing and modelling at the Academy in Alost between 1932 and 1935. After this he was apprenticed to a blacksmith and then to a sculptor of religious images in wood. Between 1938 and 1942 he was a pupil of Oscar Jespers at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et des Arts Décoratifs La Cambre in Brussels. After this he lived near Brussels, carving stone and forging, riveting and welding iron and copper. During this period he met Asger Jorn, Pierre Alechinksy and Enrico Baj.