Paul Claes (born 30 October 1943) is a Flemish scholar, writer, poet and translator. Born in Leuven, Claes graduated in classical literature and Germanic philology (Dutch and English). He obtained a PhD in 1981, with a dissertation De mot zit in de mythe on references to classical texts in the works of Hugo Claus. He worked at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Catholic University of Nijmegen.