15 Facts About Johan Anthierens

Johan Anthierens was a Belgian journalist, columnist, publicist, critic and writer.

Johan Anthierens became notorious because of his socially conscious columns, as well as his equally controversial opinions during interviews.

Johan Anthierens was born at Machelen in 1937 as part of a huge family with seven daughters and five sons.

Johan Anthierens was known for his love of chanson, especially the anarchic lyrics of Leo Ferre, Georges Brassens and Jacques Brel.

Johan Anthierens provoked the censors by giving a banned song by Ferre airplay and ducked another ban by reading the lyrics of Hugo Raspoet's anti-papal song "Evviva Il Papa" out loud rather than play the song.

In 1998 Johan Anthierens would write a biography about Brel, called "De passie en de pijn", which was a personal declaration of his love for the man's music, complete with interviews he conducted with him in the past.

From 1976 on Johan Anthierens was a panel member in the TV quiz show De Wies Andersen Show.

Johan Anthierens made no secret of his hatred of the man's music and after he insinuated that the singer had not paid Peyo the rights to make a hit song about The Smurfs Abraham stood up and left the show in anger.

In 1982 Johan Anthierens quit his job at Knack to start his own magazine, De Zwijger.

Unfortunately it remained nothing more than a cult magazine and as Johan Anthierens was unable to combine his writings with running the magazine in general it was disestablished in 1985.

Johan Anthierens had made so many enemies over the years that he hardly found work in other magazines.

Johan Anthierens was allowed back on television and made a travel show about his idols Willem Elsschot and Jacques Brel, about whom he wrote books, one published in 1992, the other in 1998.

Johan Anthierens wrote a book about Irma Laplasse, a Flemish collaborator during World War II and the resistance leader Albert Vandamme.

Johan Anthierens wrote the text for a book about GAL, one of his friends.

In 2000 Johan Anthierens died at the age of 62 of Hodgkin's disease.