{{Short description|Belgian lawyer and French-language poet}} {{Infobox writer | embed = | honorific_prefix = | name = Thomas Braun | honorific_suffix = | image = Thomas BRAUN 1876-1961.jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = Thomas Braun celebrating 25 years at the bar (1923) | pseudonym = TOM, Thomas Bonissart, Brunissart, Ranhissart | birth_name = Thomas Marie Joseph Braun | birth_date = {{Birth date|1876|09|08|df=y}} | birth_place = Brussels, Belgium | death_date = {{Death date and age|1961|09|11|1876|09|08|df=y}} | death_place = Ixelles (Brussels), Belgium | resting_place = | occupation = Lawyer | language = French | residence = | nationality = Belgian | citizenship = | education = Institut Saint-Louis, Brussels | alma_mater = Catholic University of Louvain | period = Fin de siècle | genre = poetry | subject = nature, family, the Ardennes | movement = | notableworks = ''Fumée d'Ardenne'' (1912) | spouses = Marguerite Van Mons, Hélène Moeller | children = | relatives = | awards = Elected to the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | module = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} --> | portaldisp = <!-- "on", "yes", "true", etc.; or omit --> }} '''Thomas Braun''' (1876–1961) was a Belgian lawyer and French-language poet. He also published under the pen names '''Bonissart''', '''Brunissart,''' and '''Ranhissart'''.
==Life== Braun was born in Brussels on 8 September 1876, the son of Senator Alexandre Braun and Fanny Marcq. He was educated at the Institut Saint-Louis in Brussels, spending his vacations in the Ardennes at Bagimont (now a subdivision of Vresse-sur-Semois). He took the candidature in law at the Faculté Saint-Louis in Brussels, spent some time in Bonn, and completed his studies at the Catholic University of Louvain.<ref name=Pouilliart>Raymond Pouilliart, "Braun (Thomas)", ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique'', [http://www.academieroyale.be/Academie/documents/FichierPDFBiographieNationaleTome2098.pdf vol. 40] (Brussels, 1977), 90-95.</ref>
Even before graduating, he was publishing verse and prose under a variety of pen names in a wide range of periodicals, including ''L'Avenir du Luxembourg'', ''L'Avenir social'', ''La Justice sociale'', ''Le Luxembourg'', ''La Belgique'', the ''Journal de Bruxelles'', ''L'Etudiant'', ''La Famille'', ''La Petite revue belge'', ''Chasse et pêche'', and ''La Revue vélocipédique belge''.<ref name=Pouilliart/> In 1895, he went to Paris to meet Joris-Karl Huysmans.<ref name=Pouilliart/>
He was a founding member of ''L'Escholier'' and the Société Générale Bruxelloise des Etudiants Catholiques ("Gé"), and a regular contributor to new reviews such as ''Le Drapeau'', ''Durendal'', and ''Le Spectateur catholique''.<ref name=Pouilliart/> From 1898 onwards, he was very active in the legal profession. He co-authored two legal works, one on trademarks and one on patents. In 1900, he married Marguerite Van Mons. They lived in Brussels, with a summer home in the Ardennes at Maissin (now a subdivision of Paliseul).<ref name=Pouilliart/> During the First World War he was an active defence lawyer for Belgians brought before the tribunals established by the forces of occupation.<ref name=Pouilliart/> After his first wife's death in 1919, he married Hélène Moeller (Henry Moeller's niece and editorial assistant at ''Durendal''). He was elected to the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique in 1939, but was installed only in 1946. He was among the founders of the Académie Luxembourgeoise.<ref name=Pouilliart/>
He died in Ixelles (Brussels) on 11 September 1961.
==Writings== ;Poetry * ''L'An'' (1897) * ''Le Livre des bénédictions'' (1900) * ''Philatélie'' (1910) * ''Fumée d'Ardenne'' (1912) * ''Les Bénédictions'' (1941) * ''Le Zodiaque'' (1949)
;Law * with Albert Capitaine, ''Les marques de fabrique et de commerce'' (Brussels, 1908) * with Paul Struye, ''Précis des brevets d'invention et de la contrefaçon matérielle'' (Brussels, 1935).
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Thomas}} Category:1876 births Category:1961 deaths Category:Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni Category:20th-century Belgian lawyers Category:20th-century Belgian poets Category:Members of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique