Biography about Sophus Claussen

Sophus Claussen was born 12.9.1865 on the island of Langeland. In 1884 he graduated from grammar school and began reading law, though he later abandoned the study. In the students’ association he joined the radical group of students around Georg Brandes, where he also met Viggo and Ingeborg Stuckenberg and Johannes Jørgensen. It was in 1887 that Claussen published his first collection of poems, a volume entitled Naturbørn (Nature’s Children), a first publication that was to create a veritable scandal. Alongside his activity as an author, he worked at various times as editor of the newspapers Nyborg Dagblad and Lolland-Falsters Folketidende respectively. Between 1892 and 1894, Sophus Claussen travelled in France and Italy. In Paris he joined the circle around Paul Verlaine, the leading figure in the Symbolist movement. The time Claussen spent in these two countries resulted in the books Antonius i Paris (Antonius in Paris) and Valfart (Pilgrimage). He was later to return to France and Italy, visiting Italy in 1902 and undertaking a prolonged stay in Paris between 1906 and 1911.