Emile Claus was born on 27 September 1849 in Sint-Eloois-Vijve, a village in West Flanders (Belgium), on the banks of the river Lys. Emile was the twelfth child in a family of thirteen. Father Alexander was a grocer-publicist and for some time a councillor. Mother Celestine Verbauwhede came from the family of a Brabant skipper and had her hands full with her offspring.
As a child Emile already loved drawing and on Sunday he went three kilometres on foot to the Academy of Waregem (the neighbouring town) to learn to draw. He graduated from the Academy with a gold medal. Although father Claus allowed him to take drawing lessons, he did not like the career of an artist for his son. Instead, he sent Emile as an apprentice baker to Lille (France). Emile learned French there, but the profession of baker clearly did not appeal to him. He also worked for some time at the Belgian Railways and as a representative in the flax trade.
