Hugo Maurice Julien Claus (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦyɣoː ˈklʌus]; 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, novels, and poetry; he also left a legacy as a painter and film director.

[2] Hugo was educated at a boarding school led by nuns in Aalbeke and experienced the German occupation of Belgium during World War II.

[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.

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.

[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.

[13] [14] In 1985, Claus also wrote a series of satirical poems about Pope John Paul II's upcoming visit to Belgium that year, titled Een Weerzinwekkend Bezoek.

[19] 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.

[23] The Roman Catholic Church criticized the media coverage; Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels referred to Claus' euthanasia in his Easter Homily.

[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.