Writer. He received notoriety for being a prolific Flemish author during the first half of the 20th Century. His best-known novel "Whitney" became the screen play for the first Flemish movie with sound, "De Witte" in 1934. He had a bit part in the movie. The movie was remade in 1980 as "DeWitte van Sichem". The plot of his novel was the adventures of a prankish blond-haired boy with some of the details being autobiographic. One of his novels were also adapted into the popular TV series, "Wij, Heren van Zichem" from 1969 to 1972. His plots were set in World War I describing the country life-style of people that he actually knew. After World War II, he used the pen name G. van Hasselt. He married the Dutch-born writer Stephanie Vetter and the couple share a grave marker located against the back wall of the abbey. Born Andreas Josephus Ernestus Claes, he was the seventh child of nine of a farmer and his wife. He was educated in a small local school. After his father died, he was employed in the print shop of the Abbey of Averbode as a printer's assistant. With the help of the priest, he began to write stories. His first published story was in 1906. He started studies at the University of Leuven the same year for four years. In October of 1912, he received his Doctoral degree in Arts and Philosophy and married Vetter, who would also become a well-known writer. He held several positions as a writer. During World War I , he was seriously injured with three wounds in his left shoulder from bullets and scrap metal, captured, and transported to a German prisoner of war camp. On January 25, 1915, he was exchanged for a German prisoner in Switzerland and he stayed in France the rest of the war. He became active in politics supporting socialism but found the time to write. In 1934 he was elected to the Royal Flemish Academy of Linguistics and Literature. In 1943 he received the Triennial State Prize for Flemish Literature with Nazi Germany accepting his writings. In 1967 his birth place home became a museum. In 2006 in his honor a monument in Averbode was erected, which was an image of a young Ernest as a drummer, made by sculptor René Huybrechtsr