Early Life, Family and Training Antoon Van Ysendyck entered the world in Antwerp, Belgium, on 13 January 1801. He was born into a family where the sea and the struggle for sustenance were close at hand, as his father, Adrien-François Van Ysendyck, worked as a fisherman. Though his father’s roots traced back to Bruges, the young Antoon would find his own destiny within the walls of the great academies of his birthplace. The boy’s path…