Hugo Claus 899870 222740830 2008-06-30T21:45:32Z 71.232.197.134 {{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]] --> | name = Hugo Claus | pseudonym = Dorothea van Male; Jan Hyoens; Thea Streiner | birthname = Hugo Maurice Julien Claus | birthdate = {{Birth date|1929|4|5|mf=y}} | birthplace = [[Bruges]], [[Belgium]] | deathdate = {{death date and age|2008|3|19|1929|4|5|mf=y}} | deathplace = [[Antwerp]], [[Belgium]] | occupation = [[novelist]], [[poet]], [[playwright]], [[painter]], [[film director]] | notableworks = ''[[The Sorrow of Belgium]]'' }} '''Hugo Maurice Julien Claus''' ([[April 5]], [[1929]] &ndash; [[March 19]], [[2008]]) was a [[Flanders|Flemish]] [[novelist]], [[poet]], [[playwright]], [[painter]] and [[film director]]. ==Career== Hugo Claus was considered to be one of the most important contemporary [[Dutch literature|Dutch]] [[Dutch language|language]] authors <ref>[http://www.rtbf.be/info/societe/ARTICLE_168325 Radio-Television Belge RTBF (French)]</ref><ref>[http://www.ledevoir.com/2008/03/20/181368.html Le Devoir (French)]</ref><ref>[http://www.la-croix.com/article/index.jsp?docId=2332427&rubId=5548 La Croix (French)]</ref>. Under the pseudonym Dorothea van Male, he published the novel Schola Nostra (1971). He also used the pseudonyms Jan Hyoens and Thea Streiner. In 1983, he published ''Het verdriet van België'' ("''[[The Sorrow of Belgium]]''"), which is probably his most famous book. Claus was also a dramatist. He wrote 35 original pieces and 31 translations from English, Greek, Latin, French, Spanish and Dutch plays and novels. Hugo Claus' name had been put forward many times for the Nobel Prize in Literature, on which he would casually comment that "l'argent de ce prix m'aurait bien arrangé" ("this prize money would suit me fine") <ref name="Revue">[http://blogrtbf.typepad.com/matin_premiere/2008/03/2003---revue-de.html Revue de la presse belge (French)]</ref>. ==Life== Hugo Claus was born in [[Bruges]]. He was the eldest son of the printer Jozef (Joseph) Claus and Germaine Vanderlinden. In February [[1931]], his brother Guido was born (died [[November 9]] 1991). Guido was later followed by two other brothers -- Odo (born January 1934) and Johan (born November 1938). From February [[1953]] until the beginning of [[1955]], Hugo Claus lived in [[Italy]] where his girlfriend [[Elly Overzier]] (born in 1928) acted in a few films. They were married on [[May 26]], 1955, and had a son, Thomas, on October 6, 1963. In the early 1970s, he had an affair with actress [[Sylvia Kristel]], who was 27 years younger, with whom he had a son Arthur born in 1975. The relationship ended in 1977, when she left him for actor [[Ian McShane]]<ref name="BBC">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7308618.stm BBC obituary, 2008]</ref>. He was a "contrarian", of "anarchist spirit". Journalist Guy Duplat recalls that Claus had organized in [[Knokke]] the election of a "Miss Knokke Festival", which was a standard [[Beauty contest]], except for the Claus ruling that the members of the all-male jury would have to be naked <ref name="Revue"/>. Claus was actively opposed to [[Flemish Movement|Flemish separatism]]<ref>[http://www.art-and-you.com/breve-419.htm ArtAndYou, 2008]</ref>. ==Death== Claus suffered from [[Alzheimer's]] disease and requested his life to be terminated through [[euthanasia]] at the Middelheim Ziekenhuis in [[Antwerp]] on March 19, 2008<ref>[http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=DMF19032008_071 De Standaard online (Dutch)]</ref>. Euthanasia is legal in Belgium. The Flemish Minister of Culture stated, "I knew him well enough to know that he wanted to depart with pride and dignity"<ref>[http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/culture/livres/0,,3782747,00-hugo-claus-ets-mort-belges-sont-chagrin-.html LCI (French)]</ref>. Former Belgian Prime Minister [[Guy Verhofstadt]] said that he imagined the onset of Alzheimer's must have been "inevitable and unbearable torture". "I can live with the fact that he decided thus", he said, "because he left us as a great glowing star, right on time, just before he would have collapsed into a black hole"<ref name="BBC"/>. His death by euthanasia has received criticism from the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and the Belgian Alzheimer League<ref>[http://www.alzheimerliga.be/ (Dutch)]. The [[Roman Catholic Church]] criticized the media coverage; cardinal [[Godfried Danneels]] referred to Claus' euthanasia in his Easter Homily.<ref>[http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=7Q1PP3TN De Standaard online (Dutch)]</ref>. The Belgian Alzheimer League respects Claus' decision, but believes the media coverage of his death neglects other options for Alzheimer patients. ==Prizes== (incomplete list) * 1952 - [[Arkprijs van het Vrije Woord]] for ''De Metsiers'' * 1964 - August Beernaertprize for De verwondering * 1965 - Henriëtte Roland Holst-prize for all his plays * 1967 - Edmond Hustinxprize for all his plays * 1979 - Constantijn Huygensprize * 1985 - Cestoda-prize * 1986 - Herman Gorterprize for Alibi * 1986 - [[Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren]] * 1994 - Prijs voor Meesterschap * 1994 - VSB Poëzieprize for De Sporen * 1997 - Libris Literatuurprize for De Geruchten * 1998 - [[Aristeion Prize]] for De Geruchten * 2000 - Premio Nonino == Bibliography == Claus wrote over a thousand pages of poetry, more than sixty plays, over twenty novels and several [[essay]]s, [[Screenplay|film scripts]], [[libretto|libretti]] and [[translation]]s. Only a small part of this œuvre has been translated into [[English language|English]]: * Prose: ** ''The Duck Hunt'', 1955 (''De Metsiers'', 1950) ** ''Sister of Earth'', 1966 (''De Metsiers'', 1950) ** ''[[The Sorrow of Belgium]]'', 1990 (''Het verdriet van België'', 1983) (ISBN 1-58567-238-6) ** ''The Swordfish'', 1996 (''De Zwaardvis'', 1989) (ISBN 0-7206-0985-2) ** ''Desire'', 1997 (''Het verlangen'', 1978) (ISBN 0-14-025538-9) * Poetry: ** with [[Karel Appel]]: ''Love Song'', 1963 (written in English) ** ''Four Flemish Poets: Hugo Claus, Gust Gils, Paul Snoek, Hugues C. Pernath / edited by Peter Nijmeijer. (1976) (ISBN 0856820342) ** with [[Pierre Alechinsky]] and Karel Appel: ''Two-brush paintings: Their poems by Hugo Claus'', 1980 (''Zwart'', 1978) ** ''An Evening of postwar poetry of The Netherlands and Flanders [sound recording]: Hugo Claus, Judith Herzberg, Gerrit Kouwenaar, and Cees Nooteboom reading their poems'', 1984 ** ''Selected Poems 1953-1973'', 1986 ** ''The Sign of the Hamster'', 1986 (''Het teken van de Hamster'', 1964) (ISBN 9071345130) ** ''Greetings: selected poems'', 2004 (ISBN 0151009007) * Theatre: ** ''Friday'', 1972 (''Vrijdag'', 1969) (ISBN 0706700511) ** ''Four Works for the Theatre'', 1990 (ISBN 0-9666152-1-2) ** ''Friday'', 1993 (''Vrijdag'', 1969) ** ''The sacrament and other plays of forbidden love'', 2007 (ISBN 9781575911106) * Essay: ** ''Karel Appel, Painter'', 1962 (''Karel Appel, Schilder'', 1964) ==References== {{reflist}} ==See also== * [[Flemish literature]] ==External links== *[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/books/25claus.html?ref=obituaries New York Times: Hugo Claus, One of Belgium’s Most Renowned Authors, Dies at 78 ] *[http://www.ua.ac.be/main.aspx?c=*CLAUS Study and Documentation Centre Hugo Claus] at the [[Universiteit Antwerpen|Antwerp University]] *[http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hclaus.htm Hugo Claus] on the [http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ Pegasos] website *[http://www.ned.univie.ac.at/lic/autor.asp?aut_id=118&user_lang_id=4 Hugo Claus] on the [http://www.ned.univie.ac.at/lic/index.asp?user_lang_id=4 Literature in Context] website *[http://www.the-ledge.com/flash/ledge.php?prsn=118&lan=UK Hugo Claus 'Bookweb' on literary website The Ledge, with suggestions for further reading] *{{imdb name|id=0165282|name=Hugo Claus}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Claus, Hugo}} [[Category:1929 births]] [[Category:2008 deaths]] [[Category:Flemish poets]] [[Category:Flemish writers]] [[Category:People from Bruges]] [[Category:Deaths by euthanasia]] [[bg:Хюго Клаус]] [[de:Hugo Claus]] [[es:Hugo Claus]] [[eo:Hugo Claus]] [[fr:Hugo Claus]] [[it:Hugo Claus]] [[lb:Hugo Claus]] [[hu:Hugo Claus]] [[nl:Hugo Claus]] [[pl:Hugo Claus]] [[ro:Hugo Claus]] [[ru:Клаус, Хьюго]] [[fi:Hugo Claus]] [[sv:Hugo Claus]] [[tr:Hugo Claus]] [[vls:Hugo Claus]]