Back to Authors' Index Page

Victor Hugo(1802-1885)

 Victor Hugo was a French novelist, playwright, and poet. His works contributed to the Romanticism period. His works are still alive and well today, especially his famous novel, Les Miserables.

 BIOGRAPHY

Hugo was born February 26, 1802 in Bensacon, France.  (map of France) His father was a general in Napoleon's army and until Hugo was ten, traveled with him.   In 1812, he settled with his mother in Paris, France.  In 1822, he married his childhood sweetheart, Adele Foucher.  Many other Romantic Authors (Vigny, Sainte-Beuve) visited this couple at their home for ideas on their compositions.  Hugo used historical settings in his novels. He wrote historical plays and dramas as well.  The publications of Hugo's third collection of poems Odes and Ballads marked the beginning of intense creativity for Hugo.  During the next 17 years Hugo published essays, three novels, five volumes of poems, and a lot of dramas.  In 1845, he accepted a political post in the government of King Louis Philippe and in 1848 became a representative of the people after Louis Napoleon Bonaparte became president of the Second Republic.  Louis Napoleon declared himself as absolute ruler of France and exiled Hugo because of his republican beliefs.  He was exiled to Brussels and then to The Channel Islands.  Hugo continued to denunciate the French Government.
    During exile Hugo matured as a writer, producing first volumes of his epic poem, Legend of the Centuries (1859-83; English trans., 1894), Les Miserables, and Contemplations (1856; English trans., 1887).  He returned to Paris after the fall of the Second Republic in 1870, and found himself as a national hero.  He was elected member of the National Assembly, then a senator of the Third Republic.
 

• The last two decades were sad for him as his sons, wife, and mistress died.
• 
• His death received a national mourning and a state funeral.

• During the course of Victor Hugo's life he wrote many essays, quotes, poems, and novels.

Quotations made by Victor Hugo:
"The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved."

"The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved--loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves."

"An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come."

Novels

• Han of Iceland (1823)
• Oriental Poems (1829)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831)
• Les Miserables (1862)

This is a picture from Sony's Motion Picture.
(click on picture to go to that site)
Go to this site if you would like to read the whole book online:
http://www.techplus.com/wideman/hugo/

• Toilers of the Sea. (1866)

Time Period of Victor's Life

• 1804 Napoleon crowns himself at Notre-Dame and this is the beginning of the French Empire.

1804-1815 The Time of the French Empire along with the rise and fall of the Napoleonic Empire, ending with the Battle of Waterloo.
• 1815 France becomes a monarchy again under Louis XVIII.

Hugo at age 18.

• 1815-1824 - King Louis XVIII reigned over France.
• 1824-1830 Reign of Charles X over France.
• 1830-1848- Reign of King Louis Philippe.
• 1848-1851 - Reign of King Louis Philippe ends with an uprising and Louis Napoleon becomes President of the Second Republic.
• December 2, 1851 Louis Napoleon gets rid of the parliment and declares himself president for 10 years with full powers.
• 1852 Louis Napoleon declares himself Emperor Napoleon III
• 1870- Franco-Prussian war ends with a horrible battle at Sedan.  Napoleon III flees from France to settle in England

Victor Hugo's Life

• 1802 - Victor-Marie Hugo is born.
• 1807 - His father, Leopold Hugo, is promoted colonel and is posted to Naples.
• 1811 - Sophie, Victor's mom, attempts to fix her marriage w/ her husband, but he finds out about her affair with Lahorie and sues her for divorce.
• 1821 - Sophie dies and Leopold marries his mistress, Catherine Thomas.
• 1822 - Victor marries Adele Foucher, his childhood sweetheart.
• 1823 - his first son is born, Leopold-Victor.
• 1825 - Victor is awarded the Legion d'honneur (Legion of Honour) for literature services.
• 1828 - His father Leopold-Sigisbert Hugo dies.
• 1829 - birth of his first daughter, Adele.

Victor during exile in Belgium.

• 1831 - Victor publishes Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame)
• 1841 - Victor is elected to the Academe Francaise after two failed attempts already.
• 1845 - Victor starts writing Les Miserables.
• 1861 - He completes Les Miserables.
• 1868 - Adele Hugo dies.
• 1871 - Victor reigns in the Parliment and after his son dies he goes to settle the family inheritance in Brussels.
• May 23, 1885 Victor Hugo dies at age, ~ 83.

Please feel free to learn more about the time period of Victor Hugo's life and visit this website : http://www.ewl.uky.edu/~achico/hugolife.html
 
 
 

                           Bibliography

• Grolier, Victor Hugo in Memorandum, 1999, 3/29/01,  http://go.grolier.com.
• List of Hugo's Works, 3/28/01,    http://www.geocities.com/Paris/LeftBank/9640/.
• Quotes by Victor Hugo, 3/28/01,    http://quoteland.com/quotes/author/243.html.