Johann Peter Klassen Biography | Poet

Johann Peter Klassen (1868-1947) was a Russian Mennonite poet and writer who emigrated to Canada in 1923 but wrote primarily in the German language. He was born 27 May 1868 (O.S. 15 May) in Neu-Schönwiese near Alexandrovsk (Zaporizhia) Ukraine (then part of Russia), the third of four children of Peter Abram Klassen (22 October 1825 - 13 February 1905) and Aganetha (Schultz) Klassen (1 April 1832 - 7 December 1920). His father had four children from his first marriage to Anna Janzen (1828-1863).