CLAUDIUS, MATTHIAS (174o-1815), German poet, otherwise known by the nom de plume of Asmus, was born on Aug. 15, 1740, at Rheinfeld, near Lubeck, and studied at Jena. From 1771 to 1775 he edited a newspaper called the Wandsbecker Bote (Wandsbeck Messenger), in which he published a large number of prose essays and poems. He died on Jan. 21, 1815. In his later days Claudius became strongly pietistic.