• 10.01.1888 : born in Kapellen (Antwerp). Secondary education (humanities) in Tirlemont.
• 1910 : doctorate in philosophy and literature (Germanic philology) in Louvain (central jury).
• 03.11.1911 : trainee at the Royal Library of Belgium.
• 15.04.1913 : librarian-bibliographer at the Royal Library of Belgium.
• 15.04.1919 : first class librarian.
• 30.06.1927 : deputy curator of the Manuscripts Section.
• 18.12.1936 : curator.
• 26.03.1937 : junior lecturer in history of miniatures at the University of Ghent.
• 17.10.1944 : head librarian of the Royal Library of Belgium.
• 1946 : co-founder of the publication Scriptorium with Camille Gaspar and François Masai.
• 31.01.1953 : retired.
• 19.08.1970 : died in Jumet.

In spite of his administrative functions from 1941 to 1953, at first as curator of the Manuscripts Section and later as head librarian of the Royal Library, this melancholic enthusiast dedicated all of his energy to the study of the French and Flemish manuscripts of the Gothic period, in particular to those realised for the great patron kings of the 14th and 15th century. Lyna, a specialist and probably the " inventor " of Flemish miniature, possessed above all teaching skills and " tried to arouse interest for the diverse and complex questions posed by the study of illuminated manuscripts. In doing so, he already gave a practical and very lively introduction of codicology, in a period when this word was not yet established and was too often neglected " (François Masai and Antoine De Schrijver, Scriptorium, 1969, p. 187).

Portrait : unknown photographer (DR)