Victor Hugo

Literature / Writers Datebook: February  26

   

Brief biography and works of French writer Victor Hugo, novelist, dramatist & poet, creator of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' and 'Les Miserables.'

Victor Hugo was the most important of the French Romantic School of writers. He is most popular today as the author of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) and Les Miserables (1862.)

Early Life

Victor Hugo, (1802-1885), French novelist, dramatist and poet, was born on February 26  in Besancon, France, the third son of a soldier in the army of the great French leader Napoleon. He was raised and educated by his mother. At the age of 14, he showed talent as a poet.

Influence and Early Works

Inspired by the example of the statesman and author Francois Rene Chateaubriand, he published poetry, plays and novels. His works showed a strong sense of social responsibility. The production of his play Hernani, a highly romantic and unconventional poetic drama, caused ripples between supporters and opponents of the new socially challenging drama at that time. Due to the controversy, Hugo established himself as leader of the French literary romanticism. His novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, published when he was 29, made him famous.

Family Tragedy

Tragedy struck Victor Hugo at an early age.  His brother, Eugene, went insane on his wedding day. For the rest of his life, Hugo felt responsible for his brother's condition. Later, another misfortune struck. His favourite daughter died in an accident, and as a result, he stopped writing for ten years.

Later Life

Hugo became involved in politics as a supporter of the Republican form of government. Following Napoleon III's overthrow of the Second French Republic in 1851, Hugo went into exile on the Channel Islands.

It was during this exile that he wrote his greatest works, including The Legend of the Centuries, published when he was 57, and Les Miserables, published three years later.

An epic story about social injustice, Les Miserables is set against the background of the French Revolution. It has become one of the most popular modern musicals of all time.

Hugo's Final Years

After Napoleon III fell from power in 1870, Hugo returned to France. He died in Paris on May 22, 1885, aged 83. More than two million people attended his state funeral.  

 

Links to Les Miserables:  

Les Misérables | Do You Hear the People Sing? YouTube, uploaded by Universal Pictures. Accessed February 26, 2021.

Les Misérables (2012) - I Dreamed A Dream Scene (1/10) | Movieclips. Accessed February 26, 2021. 

Les Misérables (2012) - One Day More Scene (6/10) | Movieclips. Accessed February 26, 2021.

 

Books by Victor Hugo

Odes and Ballads, 1826

Les Orientales, 1829

Hernani, 1831

The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1831

The Legend of the Centuries, 1859

Les Miserables, 1862

By Order of the King, 1869

The Terrible Year, 1872

Ninety-Three, 1874

 

Image Credit:

Victor Hugo by Étienne Carjat, 1876.  en.Wikipedia.org / Public Domain.

 

Resources:

Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers (2002)

Dictionary of Literature, Brockhampton Press (1995)

Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring, Larousse (1994)   

 

(c) March 26, 2010. Updated February 26, 2021. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.