Hugo Claus | |
|---|---|
 Claus inGhent, 1984 | |
| Born | Hugo Maurice Julien Claus (1929-04-05)5 April 1929 Bruges, Belgium |
| Died | 19 March 2008(2008-03-19) (aged 78) Antwerp, Belgium |
| Pen name | Dorothea van Male; Jan Hyoens; Thea Streiner |
| Occupation | Playwright, novelist, poet, painter, film director |
| Notable works | The Sorrow of Belgium |
| Spouse | Elly Overzier [nl] Veerle de Wit |
Hugo Maurice Julien Claus (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈɦyɣoːˈklʌus]; 5 April 1929 – 19 March 2008) was a leadingBelgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms. Claus' literary contributions spanned the genres of drama, novels, 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 2000International Nonino Prize in Italy.
His death byeuthanasia, which is legal in Belgium, led to considerable controversy.
Hugo Claus was born on 5 April 1929 at Sint-Janshospitaal inBruges,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 aboarding school led bynuns inAalbeke and experienced theGerman occupation of Belgium during World War II. The experience was formative, and would later be adapted by Claus into his semi-autobiographicalThe Sorrow of Belgium (1983). Many of Claus' teachers wereFlemish nationalists who were sympathetic tofascism, and Claus joined the pro-German youth wing of theFlemish National Union. His father was also briefly detained after theLiberation forcollaborationism.[2] A sympathizer of thepolitical left at a more mature period in his life, Claus lauded the socialist model after a visit toCuba in the 1960s.[2]
Claus' prominence in literary circles and his debut as a novelist came in 1950, with the publication of hisDe 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 theCoBrA art movement.[4]
From February 1953 until the beginning of 1955, Hugo Claus lived in Italy where his girlfriendElly 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 actressSylvia Kristel, who was 23 years younger, with whom he had a son, Arthur, in 1975. They lived in theRaamgracht 5–7 building in Amsterdam. The relationship ended in 1977, when she left him for actorIan McShane.[5]
He was a "contrarian", of "anarchist spirit".[citation needed] Journalist Guy Duplat recalls that Claus had organized inKnokke 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]
Hugo Claus was considered to be one of the most important contemporary Belgian authors.[7][8][9] Claus published the novelSchola Nostra (1971) under the pseudonym Dorothea Van Male. He also used the pseudonyms Jan Hyoens and Thea Streiner. The 1962De verwondering (The Astonishment) and the 1983Het verdriet van België (The Sorrow of Belgium) rank among Claus' most significant works as a novelist.[10] Lee viewsHet verdriet van België as a postmodern critique of national identity.[11]
Most prolific in literary endeavours as a dramatist, Claus wrote 35 original pieces and 31 translations from English, Greek, Latin, French and Spanish plays and novels. His dramatic sketchMasscheroen was first staged atKnokke Casino and featured an all-nude cast: three naked men were given the task of portraying the ChristianHoly Trinity ofGod the Father,God the Son, and theHoly Spirit; the work also made light of theHoly Virgin, a Belgiansaint, and theThree Wise Men.[12] Attacked asblasphemous 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 asuspended sentence after a public outcry.[2]
Claus also wrote the script of asatirical 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 artistHugoké (Hugo de Kempeneer).[13][14] In 1985, Claus also wrote a series of satirical poems aboutPope John Paul II's upcoming visit to Belgium that year, titledEen Weerzinwekkend Bezoek. The poems were illustrated with cartoons byGAL.[15]
Hugo Claus' name had been put forward many times for theNobel Prize in Literature, on which he would casually comment "this prize money would suit me fine".[6]
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 byPierre Alechinsky in 1949.[16] He collaborated with key figures in the movement includingKarel Appel andCorneille[17] and participated in some exhibitions.[16] He later used his experiences of this time in his bookEen zachte vernieling (Mild Destruction).[18]
Claus directed seven films between 1964 and 2001. His filmHet sacrament was screened in theUn Certain Regard section at the1990 Cannes Film Festival.[19]
Claus suffered fromAlzheimer's disease and requested his life to be terminated througheuthanasia, a legal procedure in Belgium, at the Middelheim Hospital inAntwerp on 19 March 2008.[20]
Bert Anciaux, then Flemish Minister of Culture,[21] stated "I knew him well enough to know that he wanted to depart with pride and dignity."[22] Former Belgian Prime MinisterGuy 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 glowingstar, right on time, just before he would have collapsed into aStellar black hole."[5]
His death by euthanasia has received criticism from theRoman Catholic Church and the Belgian Alzheimer League.[23] TheRoman Catholic Church criticized the media coverage; Belgian CardinalGodfried Danneels referred to Claus' euthanasia in his Easter Homily.[24] The Belgian Alzheimer League respects Claus' decision, but believes the media coverage of his death neglects other options for Alzheimer's patients.[citation needed]
Amongst others:
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:
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