Biography
Virginie Loveling was born in Nevele, Belgium, and was the younger sister of Rosalie Loveling, also an author, with whom she co-wrote part of her oeuvre. After the death of their father Herman Loveling, the family moved to Ghent where the sisters moved in circles of French-speaking, mainly anti-clerical intelligentsia before eventually returning to Nevele.
Together with her sister, she wrote realistic and descriptive poetry with a romantic undertone. They also published two collections of essays on life in the rural communities as well as the city bourgeousie.
After her sister's death in 1875, she authored children's stories as well as novels and essays that paint a poignant picture of the era. With a noted intellectual and psychological angle, they treat -for that time- controversial subjects like heredity, education, religion and women's rights. She also co-authored 'Levensleer' (1912), a humoristic take on Ghent's French-speaking bourgeoisie with her nephew Cyriel Buysse.
Official recognition followed with the novel 'Een dure eed' in 1891, which received the quinquennial prize for Dutch literature.
Virginie Loveling died on 1 December 1923 in Nevele.
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