Belgian writer Claus dies by euthanasia aged 78: publisher
BRUSSELS (AFP) — Belgian author Hugo Claus, one of the most celebrated writers in the Dutch language, died Wednesday by euthanasia while suffering from Alzheimer's disease, his publisher announced. He was 78.
The author of the 1983 novel "The Sorrow of Belgium" thus became the most celebrated figure known to have died through euthanasia in a case bound to revive debate on the subject in Europe and beyond.
It was known that the Bruges native, who was also a poet, painter, playwright and film director, had chosen euthanasia. Belgium is one of the few nations where it is legal.
His Dutch publishing house, De Bezige Bij (The Busy Bee), said in a statement in the name of the writer's family, that he had chosen the time of death in a hospital in Antwerp, northern Belgium.
"Claus suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He stipulated the moment of his death and he asked for euthanasia," at the Middelheim hospital in Antwerp, the publisher said.
Claus's case "certainly respected all the guarantees provided for in the law, including a visit to a psychiatrist," said Jacqueline Herremans, president of the Belgian association for the right to die in dignity.
According to a member of the official committee evaluating euthanasia cases, who asked not to be named, it was likely that Claus "still in the early stages of Alzheimer's, made the decision while he still had his faculties, what we call active euthanasia."
The exact lethal method used was unknown late Wednesday, though it must under law have been carried out by a medical team.
While the 2002 Belgian euthanasia law, unlike the Dutch equivalent, does not expressly mention assisted suicide "that could also be a possibility," said Herremans, also a member of the national euthanasia committee.
Under assisted suicide the sufferer is aided in killing himself, whereas euthanasia covers judicial death by a third party.
"In this case the doctor could have given the person concerned a lethal syrup of barbiturates," Herremens said.
"In either case, under the spirit of the law, death must be without brutality or suffering," she added.
Belgium is one of just three European Union countries where euthanasia is legal, the others being the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Under Belgian law, a person must be "capable and conscious" and able to request the procedure in a "willing, thoughtful, and repeated" manner.
To avoid prosecution, doctors must also be sure the patient "is in a terminal medical situation" and enduring "constant and unbearable physical or psychological pain" resulting from an accident or incurable illness.
"I know enough to say that he wanted to leave with pride and dignity," said Bert Anciaux, culture minister for Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region.
"We'll miss him," he added. His death is "a great loss for the whole society. For me he was the finest poet of all time."
His publisher highlighted Claus's "impressive" body of work.
"He was endowed with an inimitable imagination and unbounded confidence. He worked equally well in poetry and theatre as in prose and received numerous literary prizes including the Dutch order of letters in 1986," the statement said.
The provocative "The Sorrow of Belgium" is an unsentimental novel examining Belgium and its collaborators during World War II when the country was invaded by Nazi Germany.
Born in the picturesque Flanders town of Bruges on April 5, 1929, Claus wrote his first novel at the age of 19.
In later life his name was often linked to the Nobel Literature prize though he had given up hope of ever winning.
Last September, with Belgium in the grips of a political crisis splitting the Dutch-speaking north and the francophone south, Claus was one of 400 Flemish personalities to sign a petition opposing any talk of the country splitting in two.
He died the day before a new Flemish-led coalition government was due to assume office, nine months after the general election last June.
