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Hugo Claus

May 12, 2023

Hugo Maurice Julien Claus (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦyɣoː ˈklʌu̯s]; 5 April 1929 – 19 March 2008) was a leading Belgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms. Claus' literary contributions spanned the genres of drama, the novel, and poetry; he also left a legacy as a painter and film director. He wrote primarily in Dutch, although he also wrote some poetry in English. He won the 2000 International Nonino Prize in Italy.

Hugo Claus
Claus at the premiere of Het Mes, Amsterdam, 1961
BornHugo Maurice Julien Claus
(1929-04-05)5 April 1929
Bruges, Belgium
Died19 March 2008(2008-03-19) (aged 78)
Antwerp, Belgium
Pen nameDorothea van Male; Jan Hyoens; Thea Streiner
OccupationPlaywright, novelist, poet, painter, film director
Notable worksThe Sorrow of Belgium
SpouseElly Overzier [nl]
Veerle de Wit

His death by euthanasia, which is legal in Belgium, led to considerable controversy.

Life

Hugo Claus was born on 5 April 1929 at Sint-Janshospitaal in Bruges, Belgium.[1] He was the eldest of four sons born to Jozef Claus and Germaine Vanderlinden. Jozef worked as a printer but was also fond of theatre.[2]

Hugo was educated at a boarding school led by nuns in Aalbeke and experienced the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. The experience was formative, and would later be adapted by Claus into his semi-autobiographical The Sorrow of Belgium (1983). Many of Claus' teachers were Flemish nationalists who were sympathetic to fascism, and Claus joined the pro-German youth wing of the Flemish National Union. His father was also briefly detained after the Liberation for collaborationism.[2] A sympathizer of the political left at a more mature period in his life, Claus lauded the socialist model after a visit to Cuba in the 1960s.[2]

Claus' prominence in literary circles and his debut as a novelist came in 1950, with the publication of his De Metsiers at age twenty-one. His first published poems had in fact been printed by his father as early as 1947.[3] He lived in Paris from 1950 until 1952, where he met many of the members of the CoBrA art movement.[4]

From February 1953 until the beginning of 1955, Hugo Claus lived in Italy where his girlfriend Elly Overzier [nl] (born in 1928) acted in a few films. They were married on 26 May 1955, and had a son, Thomas, on 7 October 1963. In the early 1970s, he had an affair with actress Sylvia Kristel, who was 23 years younger, with whom he had a son, Arthur, in 1975. They lived in the Raamgracht 5–7 building in Amsterdam. The relationship ended in 1977, when she left him for actor Ian McShane.[5]

He was a "contrarian", of "anarchist spirit".[citation needed] Journalist Guy Duplat recalls that Claus had organized in Knokke the election of a "Miss Knokke Festival", which was a typical beauty contest, except for the Claus ruling that the members of the all-male jury would have to be naked.[6]

Literary career

Hugo Claus was considered to be one of the most important contemporary Belgian authors.[7][8][9] Claus published the novel Schola Nostra (1971) under the pseudonym Dorothea Van Male. He also used the pseudonyms Jan Hyoens and Thea Streiner. The 1962 De verwondering (The Astonishment) and the 1983 Het verdriet van België (The Sorrow of Belgium) rank among Claus' most significant works as a novelist.[10] Lee views Het verdriet van België as a postmodern critique of national identity.[11]

Most prolific in literary endeavors as a dramatist, Claus wrote 35 original pieces and 31 translations from English, Greek, Latin, French and Spanish plays and novels. His dramatic sketch Masscheroen was first staged at Knokke Casino and featured an all-nude cast: three naked men were given the task of portraying the Christian Holy Trinity of God the father, God the son, and the Holy Spirit; the work also made light of the Holy Virgin, a Belgian saint, and the Three Wise Men.[12] Attacked as blasphemous and deleterious to the public's moral well-being, the light-hearted play's performance triggered a notable legal case in which Claus was prosecuted: convicted on charges of public indecency, Claus was ordered to pay a ten-thousand-Belgian franc fine and serve a four-month prison sentence.[1][2][12] The prison term was reduced to a suspended sentence after a public outcry.[2]

Claus also wrote the script of a satirical comic strip, "De Avonturen van Belgman" ("The Adventures of Belgian Man") in 1967, which spoofed the Belgian bi-lingual troubles. The strip itself was drawn by artist Hugoké (Hugo de Kempeneer).[13]

Hugo Claus' name had been put forward many times for the Nobel Prize in literature, on which he would casually comment "this prize money would suit me fine".[6]

Painting and film

As a painter, Claus was a participant in the CoBrA art movement from 1950. He had developed friendships with some of its members, and illustrated a book by Pierre Alechinsky in 1949.[14] He collaborated with key figures in the movement including Karel Appel and Corneille[15] and participated in some exhibitions.[14] He later used his experiences of this time in his book Een zachte vernieling (Mild Destruction).[16]

Claus directed seven films between 1964 and 2001. His film Het sacrament was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.[17]

Death

Claus suffered from Alzheimer's disease and requested his life to be terminated through euthanasia, a legal procedure in Belgium, at the Middelheim Hospital in Antwerp on 19 March 2008.[18]

Bert Anciaux, then Flemish Minister of Culture,[19] stated "I knew him well enough to know that he wanted to depart with pride and dignity."[20] 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 Stellar black hole."[5]

His death by euthanasia has received criticism from the Roman Catholic Church and the Belgian Alzheimer League.[21] The Roman Catholic Church criticized the media coverage; Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels referred to Claus' euthanasia in his Easter Homily.[22] The Belgian Alzheimer League respects Claus' decision, but believes the media coverage of his death neglects other options for Alzheimer's patients.[citation needed]

Prizes

 
Poem by Hugo Claus as a wall poem in Leiden

Amongst others:

Bibliography

Claus wrote over a thousand pages of poetry, more than sixty plays, over twenty novels and several essays, film scripts, libretti and translations. Only a small part of this œuvre has been translated into English:

  • Prose:
    • The Duck Hunt, 1955 (De Metsiers, 1950)
    • Sister of Earth, 1970 (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)
    • Wonder, 2009 (De verwondering, 1962) (ISBN 978-0-9800330-1-4)
  • 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, 1985 (Het teken van de Hamster, 1964) (ISBN 9071345130)
    • Greetings: selected poems, 2004 (ISBN 0151009007)
    • Even Now, selected and translated by David Colmer, 2013
  • Theatre:
  • Essay:
    • Karel Appel, Painter, 1963 (Karel Appel, Schilder, 1964)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Een virtuoze alleskunner" (19 March 2008). De Verdieping. Retrieved 18 June 2010. (in Dutch)
  2. ^ a b c d e Coetzee, J. M. (24 February 2007). "Stepping Stones". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  3. ^ Bloom, Ono (20 March 2008). "De Vlaamse leeuw is dood: In memoriam Hugo Claus 1929 – 2008". De Verdieping. Retrieved 18 June 2010. (in Dutch)
  4. ^ eorges Wildemeersch. "Introduction – Studie- en documentatiecentrum Hugo Claus". University of Antwerp. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Author Claus dies by euthanasia". BBC News. 21 March 2008.
  6. ^ a b Revue de la presse belge (French) 20 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Radio-Television Belge RTBF (French) 20 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ . Archived from the original on 21 March 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  9. ^ "La Croix – Actualité à la Une en France, en Europe et dans le Monde". La Croix.
  10. ^ Brems, Hugo (2007). "Claus, Hugo (1929–)". In Bernard A. Cook (Ed.), Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1 (pp. 204–205). London: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-8153-1336-5.
  11. ^ Lee, M. (2002). National Identity and Its Construction: The Codification of Flemish Identity Illustrated through Het verdriet van België by Hugo Claus. Dutch Crossing: A Journal of Low Countries Studies, 26(2), 212–232.
  12. ^ a b Willinger, David (2007). "Introduction". In Hugo Claus, The Sacrament and Other Plays of Forbidden Love (pp. 11–80). Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania: Susquehanna University Press. ISBN 978-1-57591-110-6
  13. ^ "De avonturen van Belgman". Blues Online.
  14. ^ a b . Jaski Art Gallery. Archived from the original on 6 February 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  15. ^ "Hugo Claus's position as poet-painter in Flemish/Dutch experimentalism (1947–1955)". University of Antwerp. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  16. ^ "Hugo Claus: Mild Destruction (Een zachte vernieling)". NLPVF – Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  17. ^ . festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  18. ^ svh. "Hugo Claus overleden". De Standaard.
  19. ^ "Regeringen Peeters". Vlaanderen.be (in Flemish). 10 September 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  20. ^ LCI (French) 21 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ "Welkom – Alzheimer Liga vzw". www.alzheimerliga.be.
  22. ^ "Kardinaal Danneels: 'de dood omzeilen is geen heldendaad'". De Standaard.

External links

  • New York Times: Hugo Claus, One of Belgium’s Most Renowned Authors, Dies at 78
  • at the University of Antwerp
  • Petri Liukkonen. "Hugo Claus". Books and Writers
  • Hugo Claus at IMDb

May 12, 2023
hugo, claus, hugo, maurice, julien, claus, dutch, pronunciation, ˈɦyɣoː, ˈklʌu, april, 1929, march, 2008, leading, belgian, author, published, under, name, well, various, pseudonyms, claus, literary, contributions, spanned, genres, drama, novel, poetry, also, . Hugo Maurice Julien Claus Dutch pronunciation ˈɦyɣoː ˈklʌu s 5 April 1929 19 March 2008 was a leading Belgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms Claus literary contributions spanned the genres of drama the novel and poetry he also left a legacy as a painter and film director He wrote primarily in Dutch although he also wrote some poetry in English He won the 2000 International Nonino Prize in Italy Hugo ClausClaus at the premiere of Het Mes Amsterdam 1961BornHugo Maurice Julien Claus 1929 04 05 5 April 1929Bruges BelgiumDied19 March 2008 2008 03 19 aged 78 Antwerp BelgiumPen nameDorothea van Male Jan Hyoens Thea StreinerOccupationPlaywright novelist poet painter film directorNotable worksThe Sorrow of BelgiumSpouseElly Overzier nl Veerle de WitHis death by euthanasia which is legal in Belgium led to considerable controversy Contents 1 Life 1 1 Literary career 1 2 Painting and film 1 3 Death 2 Prizes 3 Bibliography 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksLife EditHugo Claus was born on 5 April 1929 at Sint Janshospitaal in Bruges Belgium 1 He was the eldest of four sons born to Jozef Claus and Germaine Vanderlinden Jozef worked as a printer but was also fond of theatre 2 Hugo was educated at a boarding school led by nuns in Aalbeke and experienced the German occupation of Belgium during World War II The experience was formative and would later be adapted by Claus into his semi autobiographical The Sorrow of Belgium 1983 Many of Claus teachers were Flemish nationalists who were sympathetic to fascism and Claus joined the pro German youth wing of the Flemish National Union His father was also briefly detained after the Liberation for collaborationism 2 A sympathizer of the political left at a more mature period in his life Claus lauded the socialist model after a visit to Cuba in the 1960s 2 Claus prominence in literary circles and his debut as a novelist came in 1950 with the publication of his De Metsiers at age twenty one His first published poems had in fact been printed by his father as early as 1947 3 He lived in Paris from 1950 until 1952 where he met many of the members of the CoBrA art movement 4 From February 1953 until the beginning of 1955 Hugo Claus lived in Italy where his girlfriend Elly Overzier nl born in 1928 acted in a few films They were married on 26 May 1955 and had a son Thomas on 7 October 1963 In the early 1970s he had an affair with actress Sylvia Kristel who was 23 years younger with whom he had a son Arthur in 1975 They lived in the Raamgracht 5 7 building in Amsterdam The relationship ended in 1977 when she left him for actor Ian McShane 5 He was a contrarian of anarchist spirit citation needed Journalist Guy Duplat recalls that Claus had organized in Knokke the election of a Miss Knokke Festival which was a typical beauty contest except for the Claus ruling that the members of the all male jury would have to be naked 6 Literary career Edit Hugo Claus was considered to be one of the most important contemporary Belgian authors 7 8 9 Claus published the novel Schola Nostra 1971 under the pseudonym Dorothea Van Male He also used the pseudonyms Jan Hyoens and Thea Streiner The 1962 De verwondering The Astonishment and the 1983 Het verdriet van Belgie The Sorrow of Belgium rank among Claus most significant works as a novelist 10 Lee views Het verdriet van Belgie as a postmodern critique of national identity 11 Most prolific in literary endeavors as a dramatist Claus wrote 35 original pieces and 31 translations from English Greek Latin French and Spanish plays and novels His dramatic sketch Masscheroen was first staged at Knokke Casino and featured an all nude cast three naked men were given the task of portraying the Christian Holy Trinity of God the father God the son and the Holy Spirit the work also made light of the Holy Virgin a Belgian saint and the Three Wise Men 12 Attacked as blasphemous and deleterious to the public s moral well being the light hearted play s performance triggered a notable legal case in which Claus was prosecuted convicted on charges of public indecency Claus was ordered to pay a ten thousand Belgian franc fine and serve a four month prison sentence 1 2 12 The prison term was reduced to a suspended sentence after a public outcry 2 Claus also wrote the script of a satirical comic strip De Avonturen van Belgman The Adventures of Belgian Man in 1967 which spoofed the Belgian bi lingual troubles The strip itself was drawn by artist Hugoke Hugo de Kempeneer 13 Hugo Claus name had been put forward many times for the Nobel Prize in literature on which he would casually comment this prize money would suit me fine 6 Painting and film Edit As a painter Claus was a participant in the CoBrA art movement from 1950 He had developed friendships with some of its members and illustrated a book by Pierre Alechinsky in 1949 14 He collaborated with key figures in the movement including Karel Appel and Corneille 15 and participated in some exhibitions 14 He later used his experiences of this time in his book Een zachte vernieling Mild Destruction 16 Claus directed seven films between 1964 and 2001 His film Het sacrament was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival 17 Death Edit Claus suffered from Alzheimer s disease and requested his life to be terminated through euthanasia a legal procedure in Belgium at the Middelheim Hospital in Antwerp on 19 March 2008 18 Bert Anciaux then Flemish Minister of Culture 19 stated I knew him well enough to know that he wanted to depart with pride and dignity 20 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 Stellar black hole 5 His death by euthanasia has received criticism from the Roman Catholic Church and the Belgian Alzheimer League 21 The Roman Catholic Church criticized the media coverage Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels referred to Claus euthanasia in his Easter Homily 22 The Belgian Alzheimer League respects Claus decision but believes the media coverage of his death neglects other options for Alzheimer s patients citation needed Prizes Edit Poem by Hugo Claus as a wall poem in Leiden Amongst others 1950 Leo J Krynprijs nl for De Metsiers nl 1952 Arkprijs van het Vrije Woord for De Metsiers 1964 August Beernaertprize for De verwondering 1965 Henriette Roland Holst prize for all his plays 1967 Edmond Hustinxprize for all his plays 1979 Constantijn Huygens Prize 1985 Cestoda prize 1986 Herman Gorterprize for Alibi 1986 Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren 1994 Prijs voor Meesterschap for his complete oeuvre 1994 VSB Poetry Prize for De Sporen 1997 Libris Prize for De Geruchten 1998 Aristeion Prize for De Geruchten 2000 International Nonino Prize for La sofferenza del BelgioBibliography EditClaus wrote over a thousand pages of poetry more than sixty plays over twenty novels and several essays film scripts libretti and translations Only a small part of this œuvre has been translated into English Prose The Duck Hunt 1955 De Metsiers 1950 Sister of Earth 1970 De Metsiers 1950 The Sorrow of Belgium 1990 Het verdriet van Belgie 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 Wonder 2009 De verwondering 1962 ISBN 978 0 9800330 1 4 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 1985 Het teken van de Hamster 1964 ISBN 9071345130 Greetings selected poems 2004 ISBN 0151009007 Even Now selected and translated by David Colmer 2013 Theatre Friday 1972 Vrijdag 1968 ISBN 0706700511 Four Works for the Theatre 1980 ISBN 0 9666152 1 2 Friday 1993 Vrijdag 1968 The sacrament and other plays of forbidden love 2007 ISBN 9781575911106 Essay Karel Appel Painter 1963 Karel Appel Schilder 1964 See also Edit Poetry portalBelgian literatureReferences Edit a b Een virtuoze alleskunner 19 March 2008 De Verdieping Retrieved 18 June 2010 in Dutch a b c d e Coetzee J M 24 February 2007 Stepping Stones The Guardian Retrieved 17 June 2010 Bloom Ono 20 March 2008 De Vlaamse leeuw is dood In memoriam Hugo Claus 1929 2008 De Verdieping Retrieved 18 June 2010 in Dutch eorges Wildemeersch Introduction Studie en documentatiecentrum Hugo Claus University of Antwerp Retrieved 12 February 2009 a b Author Claus dies by euthanasia BBC News 21 March 2008 a b Revue de la presse belge French Archived 20 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine Radio Television Belge RTBF French Archived 20 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine Le Devoir Archived from the original on 21 March 2008 Retrieved 11 October 2018 La Croix Actualite a la Une en France en Europe et dans le Monde La Croix Brems Hugo 2007 Claus Hugo 1929 In Bernard A Cook Ed Europe Since 1945 An Encyclopedia Volume 1 pp 204 205 London Taylor amp Francis ISBN 0 8153 1336 5 Lee M 2002 National Identity and Its Construction The Codification of Flemish Identity Illustrated through Het verdriet van Belgie by Hugo Claus Dutch Crossing A Journal of Low Countries Studies 26 2 212 232 a b Willinger David 2007 Introduction In Hugo Claus The Sacrament and Other Plays of Forbidden Love pp 11 80 Selinsgrove Pennsylvania Susquehanna University Press ISBN 978 1 57591 110 6 De avonturen van Belgman Blues Online a b Hugo Claus Jaski Art Gallery Archived from the original on 6 February 2007 Retrieved 12 February 2009 Hugo Claus s position as poet painter in Flemish Dutch experimentalism 1947 1955 University of Antwerp Retrieved 12 February 2009 Hugo Claus Mild Destruction Een zachte vernieling NLPVF Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature Retrieved 12 February 2009 Festival de Cannes The Sacrament festival cannes com Archived from the original on 4 October 2012 Retrieved 7 August 2009 svh Hugo Claus overleden De Standaard Regeringen Peeters Vlaanderen be in Flemish 10 September 2014 Retrieved 3 March 2018 LCI French Archived 21 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine Welkom Alzheimer Liga vzw www alzheimerliga be Kardinaal Danneels de dood omzeilen is geen heldendaad De Standaard External links EditNew York Times Hugo Claus One of Belgium s Most Renowned Authors Dies at 78 Study and Documentation Centre Hugo Claus at the University of Antwerp Petri Liukkonen Hugo Claus Books and Writers Hugo Claus Bookweb on literary website The Ledge with suggestions for further reading Hugo Claus at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hugo Claus amp oldid 1149875974, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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