Who is Santa Claus (Father Christmas?) Once, there lived a man called St. Nicholas or Sinter Klaas in Dutch who was very shy and yet he always wanted to give money to poor people. So, he decided that he would always do it secretly. Later he came to be known as Santa Claus. It is said that one day, he climbed the roof of a house and dropped a purse of money down the chimney. It landed in the stocking which a girl had put to dry by the fire! This may explain the belief that Father Christmas comes down the chimney and places gifts in children’s stockings. When the Dutch introduced Sinter Klaas to the Americans they called him Santa Claus. Father Christmas is called different names around the world. The most popularname now days is Santa Claus. In Austria is called Christkind (“Christ child”), Belgium: Sinterklaas, Canada: Santa Claus; Père Noël (“Father Christmas”), Denmark: Julemanden. Finland: Joulupukki, France: Père Noël (“Father Christmas”); Germany: Weihnachtsmann (“Christmas Man”); Christkind in southern GermanyHungary: Mikulás (“Nicholas”); Jézuska or Kis Jézus (“child Jesus”), Italy: Babbo Natale (“Father Christmas”); La Befana. Netherlands & Flanders: Sinterklaas, Norway: Julenissen, Poland: Swiety Mikolaj, Portugal: Pai Natal (“Father Christmas”), Russia: Ded Moroz, “Grandfather Frost. Spain: Papa Noel, Sweden: Jultomten, Switzerland: Christkind, United Kingdom: Father Christmas; Santa Claus, United States: Santa Claus and in Rwanda Père Noël (“Father Christmas”) Ends
