Statue Tony Bergmann

Antonius Josephus Georgius Franciscus (Anton) Bergmann (Lier, 29 June 1835 - Lier, 21 January 1874) was a Flemish writer and lawyer.

Anton Bergmann (sometimes called Tony Bergmann) was born in Lier in 1835, the son of the later liberal mayor George Bergmann. He attended elementary school in his hometown. He also attended the lower Latin classes at the Lierse city college.

In 1849 he took a seat on the benches of the municipal athenaeum in Ghent. Even then he emerged as a great lover of Dutch literature.
Together with Julius Vuylsteke, among others, he was part of the romantic-flamingant Taalminnend Studentengenootschap 't Zal wel gaan, an association that aimed at the practice of Dutch literature and the defense of the Dutch language.

In 1853 he went to study at the University of Ghent. In 1854 he passed the examination in Letters and Philosophy, which prepared for law. In April 1856 he took the law examination and in September he took the notarial examination. He then attended a number of classes at the University of Brussels, where he obtained his doctorate in law in April 1858.

In 1858 he became a lawyer in Lier. That same year he married Eliza Van Acker, daughter of a notary. They went to live in "De Sevensterre" (Grote Markt 33) in Lier. They had a daughter.

During his short life, the liberal flamingant Bergmann was an active participant in the Dutch Language Congresses and a member of numerous associations such as the Willemsfonds. He founded the weekly newspaper De Lierenaer.

He died in 1874 at the age of 38 from the effects of a breast ailment. His grave is located in the Oud Kerkhof on the Mechelsesteenweg in Lier. There is a column on it with a bust of him, with a large marble angel in front of it.

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