Hugo, Victor - short biography. Victor Hugo - biography, information, personal life Full name of Victor Hugo

Victor Marie Hugo - French writer (poet, prose writer and playwright), leader and theorist of French romanticism. Member of the French Academy (1841) and the National Assembly (1848).
The writer's father was Joseph Leopold Sigisbert Hugo (1773-1828) - a general in the Napoleonic army, and his mother was Sophie Trebuchet (1772-1821) - the daughter of a shipowner, a Voltairian royalist.

Hugo's early childhood took place in Marseille, Corsica, Elba (1803-1805), Italy (1807), Madrid (1811), where his father worked, and from where the family returned to Paris each time. Traveling left deep impressions in the soul of the future poet and prepared his romantic worldview. Hugo himself said later that Spain was for him “a magical spring, the waters of which intoxicated him forever.” In 1813, Hugo's mother, who had an affair with General Lagorie, separated from her husband and settled with her son in Paris.

In October 1822, Hugo married Adèle Fouché, and from this marriage five children were born: Leopold (1823-1823), Leopoldina (1824-1843), Charles (1826-1871), François-Victor (1828-1873), Adèle (1830) -1915).

Victor Hugo's first mature work in the genre of fiction was written in 1829 and reflected the writer's keen social consciousness, which continued in his subsequent works. The story Le Dernier jour d'un condamné (The Last Day of a Man Condemned to Death) had a great influence on such writers as Albert Camus, Charles Dickens and F. M. Dostoevsky.

Claude Gueux, a short documentary story about a real-life murderer executed in France, was published in 1834 and was subsequently regarded by Hugo himself as a harbinger of his magnificent work on social injustice, Les Misérables.

But Hugo's first full-length novel would be the incredibly successful Notre-Dame de Paris (Notre-Dame Cathedral), which was published in 1831 and quickly translated into many languages throughout Europe. One of the novel's effects was to draw attention to the desolate Notre Dame Cathedral, which began to attract thousands of tourists who read the popular novel. The book also contributed to a renewed respect for old buildings, which were immediately actively preserved.

In his declining days, Hugo devoted a lot of energy to poetry. Collections of his poems are published one after another. In 1883, a grandiose epic was completed, the fruit of many years of work - “Legend of Ages”. Death interrupted Hugo's work on the collection "All the Strings of the Lyre", where, according to the plan, the entire repertoire of his poetry was to be presented.

In May 1885, Hugo fell ill and died at home on May 22. The state funeral became not only a tribute to a great man, but also the apotheosis of the glorification of Republican France. Hugo's remains were placed in the Pantheon, next to Voltaire and J.-J. Rousseau.

Victor Hugo is a French writer whose works have gone down in history and become immortal monuments of literary heritage. A lover of Gothic art and a representative of romanticism, all his life he despised the laws of society and opposed human inequality. Hugo wrote his most popular book, Les Misérables, at a time of creative crisis, but, nevertheless, this novel became a favorite work of the author’s fans all over the world.

Childhood and youth

The beginning of the 19th century: the great revolution passed in France, the Old Order and the absolute monarchy were destroyed in the country, which were replaced by the First French Republic. The slogan “Freedom, equality, brotherhood” flourished in the country, and the young commander instilled hope for a bright future.

It was at a time when the ancient foundations were destroyed, and sprouts from the seeds of revolution were growing in France, that the captain of the Napoleonic army, Leopold Sigisbert Hugo, had a third son. This event took place on February 26, 1802 in the east of the country, in the city of Besançon. The boy, who was given the name Victor, was sickly and weak; according to the recollections of his mother Sophie Trebuchet, the baby was “no bigger than a table knife.”

The family was rich and lived in a large three-story house. Leopold came from a peasant family, but the Great French Revolution allowed the man to prove himself. The father of the future writer went from an officer in the Republican army to a supporter of Bonaparte and, finally, became a general. Hugo Sr. often traveled due to his duty, so the family moved to Italy, Spain, Marseille, as well as to the islands in the Mediterranean Sea and Tuscany. Traveling left indelible impressions on little Victor, which would later find an echo in the writer’s works.

From the biography of Hugo’s mother, all that is known is that she was the daughter of a shipowner.

Sophie and Leopold tried to raise their three boys (Victor, Abel and Eugene) in love, but the spouses' worldviews differed, which is why they often quarreled. Trebuchet adhered to royalist and Voltairian views and was a supporter of the Bourbon dynasty in the French Revolution, while Hugo the elder was a devoted supporter of Napoleon. It was not only political strife that forced the parents of the future writer to disagree: Sophie had an affair with General Victor Lagorie.

Due to parental quarrels, the three brothers lived either with Sophie or with Leopold, and in 1813, Victor Hugo’s mother and father divorced, and the woman moved to the capital of France, taking her youngest son with her. In the future, Sophie more than once regretted and tried to reconcile with her husband, but he did not want to forget the old grievances.

The mother had a significant influence on Victor: she managed to instill in the child that the Bourbons were supporters of freedom, and the boy’s image of an ideal monarch was formed through the books he read.

Literature

Leopold dreamed that his youngest child would become familiar with the exact sciences; besides, the boy had a talent for mathematics, he could count perfectly and cope with complex equations. Perhaps the general’s son would have had the career of Michel Roll or, but Victor chose a different path and ended up from entering the Polytechnic University.

The future author of immortal novels preferred Latin poems and books to numbers, voraciously reading great works. However, Hugo began writing odes and poems as a child, studying at the Lyceum of Louis the Great, from 1812. The young man was often the author of plays at impromptu school performances: moved tables served as theatrical stages, and stage costumes were cut out of colored paper and cardboard by inept children's hands.

When the boy was 14 years old, he was inspired by the first representative of romanticism, Francois Chateaubriand, and dreamed of being like the French poet. In his autobiographical diary, the future author of “Notre Dame de Paris” covered 10 notebooks with translations of Virgil’s works: at that time the boy was on hospital treatment due to a wound in his leg.

Later, the self-critical young man found the manuscripts carefully collected by his mother and burned his works, believing that he was capable of a more elegant and literary style. On the last notebook, Victor writes that this is nonsense and draws a picture of an egg with a chick inside.

When Victor was 15 years old, he showed himself to be an outspoken supporter of royalism and an adherent of deep-rooted literary classicism.

In 1813, young Hugo participated in a literary competition, where he presented to the jury an ode on the benefits of science, “Les avantages des tudes,” for which he received praise and rave reviews. Some judges did not believe that the author of the poem was 15, because in the work Victor reasoned as an adult with a mature worldview.

The young writer praised the Bourbon dynasty in his works: for his ode “To restore the statue of Henry IV,” the young man received the attention and favor of the French authorities, who paid the young talent a salary. The monetary incentive came in handy, since Leopold refused to help his son financially due to the latter’s refusal to enter the Polytechnic School.

When the boy was 17 years old, he and his brother Abel began publishing a magazine with the catchy name “Literary Conservative,” and the collection “Odes,” published in 1822, made Victor a recognized poet among the literary public.

Hugo's books personified the movement of romanticism, and the author's works often contained a social or political aspect, while Byron's English romanticism represented works in which the main character was the human personality.

Residents of France had to observe social inequality, dirty back streets, beggary, slavery, promiscuous behavior of women and other life phenomena, although Paris was considered the city of love. Hugo, like any writer, was an observant person who was concerned about the surrounding reality. Moreover, in his works, Victor did not delve into the essence of social strife, trying to prove to readers that social problems will be solved only when a person learns to value morality and ethics.

Often the works of the French author had political overtones; in his first serious novel, “The Last Day of a Man Condemned to Death” (1829), the writer metaphorically explains his position on the abolition of the death penalty, recording the thoughts and torments of a literary hero doomed to death.

Also, Victor Hugo’s work “The Man Who Laughs” (Victor initially wanted to call the work “By the Order of the King”), written by the writer in adulthood, has a philosophical concept. The novel describes the horrors of social violence that was committed by the supreme nobility. The work tells the story of Lord Gwynplaine, whose face was disfigured as a child in order to deprive the heir to the throne and status. Due to his external inferiority, the boy was treated as a second-class person, without paying attention to his positive aspects.

"Les Miserables"

The novel “Les Misérables,” written by Hugo in 1862, is the pinnacle of the French writer’s work, based on which a film was later made. The concept of the literary plot contains acute problems of the surrounding life, such as hunger and poverty, the fall of girls into prostitution for the sake of a piece of bread, as well as the arbitrariness of the upper class, which was the government.

The protagonist of the work is Jean Valjean, who stole a loaf from a bakery for the sake of his starving family. Due to a minor crime, the man received a total of 19 years in prison, and after his release he became an outcast, deprived of the right to a quiet life.

Cosette. Illustration for Victor Hugo's book "Les Miserables"

Despite the deplorable situation in society, the hero of the novel has a goal - to make the homeless girl Cosette happy.

According to biographers of the French writer, the book is based on real events: in 1846, Hugo personally saw how a man was arrested because of a piece of loaf.

Gavroche. Illustration for Victor Hugo's book "Les Miserables"

Victor also describes the life of a perky boy, the orphan Gavroche, who dies during the June uprising in 1831.

"Notre Dame Cathedral"

The idea for “Notre Dame de Paris” came to Victor Hugo in 1828, and the book itself was published in 1831. After the publication of the novel, Hugo became an innovator: the writer became the first Frenchman to write a work with historical overtones.

Victor relied on the experience of a world-famous historical writer. “Notre Dame Cathedral” had a political motive: during his lifetime, the author of the novel advocated the reconstruction of cultural monuments.

Illustration for Victor Hugo's book "Notre-Dame de Paris"

Therefore, the Gothic cathedral in Paris, which the authorities were going to demolish, became the main character of the work. The novel talks about human cruelty and the eternal confrontation between good and evil. This book is dramatic in nature and tells the story of the unfortunate, ugly Quasimodo, who is in love with the beautiful Esmeralda, the only resident of Paris who did not mock the poor temple servant. After Hugo’s death, the work was filmed: the famous “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1996) was based on it.

Personal life

The personal life of Victor Hugo was distinguished by the fact that he had a peculiar relationship with the opposite sex. In his youth, the writer falls in love with Adele Fouché, a typical representative of the bourgeoisie. In 1822, the lovers got married. The couple had five children (the first child died in infancy), but the beautiful Adele began to disdain Hugo: she did not consider her husband a talented writer and did not read a single line from his works. But the woman cheated on her husband with his friend Sainte-Beuve, denying Victor carnal pleasure; any touch from the writer irritated the obstinate girl, but she preferred to remain silent about the betrayal.

Later, Hugo falls in love with the secular courtesan beauty Juliet, who was supported by Prince Anatoly Demidov, without denying the girl luxury. The new passion fell passionately in love with the writer, who demanded to end the affair with a rich man. But in relationships, Hugo turned out to be extremely stingy: from an elegantly dressed young lady, Victor’s new bride turned into a lady who wore rags: the author of the novels gave Juliette a small amount for expenses and controlled every coin spent.

Victor's new lover had a dream of becoming an actress, but the writer did not make any effort to ensure that the girl received a theatrical role.

Later, the writer’s passion for the aged Zhultte cooled down, and he was not against entertainment with girls for one night, for whom he organized a separate office in his house.

Death

The great writer died in the spring of 1885 from pneumonia. The news of the death of Victor Hugo instantly spread throughout France, millions of people mourned and participated in the funeral of the author of immortal novels.

One of the favorite places of Hugo's fans was the island of Jersey, where Victor spent 3 happy years and discovered himself as a poet.

Bibliography

"Les Miserables"
"Notre Dame Cathedral"
"The Man Who Laughs"
"The Last Day of the Condemned to Death"
"Ninety-third year"
"Cosette"
"Toilers of the Sea"
"Gavroche"
"Claude Gue"
"Ernani"

Quotes

“Fill up the chasm of ignorance and you will destroy the den of crime”;
“Great men rarely appear alone”;
“Ideas are rare game in the forest of words”;
“A donkey who knows the way is worth more than a soothsayer who guesses at random”;
“For me, it doesn’t matter whose side is strong; what matters is whose side is right”;
“A man enslaves not only the soul of a woman, but also her body, and more often the body than the soul. The soul is the beloved, the body is the mistress.”

Victor Hugo was the youngest in the family of General Joseph Hugo and the royalist daughter of a wealthy shipowner, Sophie Trebouchet. He was born in 1802 in Besançon, and for the next 9 years he moved with his parents from place to place. In 1811 the family returned to Paris. In 1813, Victor's parents divorced, and the youngest son remained to live with his mother.

According to a brief biography of Victor Hugo, from 1814 to 1818 the boy was educated at the prestigious Paris Lyceum of Louis the Great. At this time, he began to write: he created several tragedies, translated Virgil into French, wrote several dozen poems, poems and even an ode, for which he received a medal from the Paris Academy and several other prestigious awards.

The beginning of professional literary activity

In 1819, Victor Hugo began to engage in publishing. He published in several magazines, and then began publishing his own. The contents of the magazine indicated that young Hugo was an ardent supporter of the monarchy and adhered to ultra-royalist views.

In 1823, Hugo published his first novel, which was criticized. The writer was not upset, but on the contrary began to work more and more carefully on his works. He even became friends with critics, for example, with Charles Nodier, who, in turn, had a great influence on the writer’s work. Until 1830, Hugo adhered to the classical school, but after the novel “Cromwell” he decided to finally “go” into romanticism. It was Hugo who laid the foundations of the so-called romantic drama.

The pinnacle of a writing career

Despite problems with critics, Hugo was a fairly famous writer and moved in relevant circles. Such famous artists as Lamartine, Merimee, Delacroix were invited to the house for the holidays. Hugo maintained good relations with Liszt, Chateaubriand, and Berlioz.

In the novels of 1829-1834, Hugo showed himself not only as a writer, but also as a politician. He openly opposed the practice of the death penalty, which was especially important for post-revolutionary France.

From 1834 to 1843 the writer worked mainly for theaters. His tragedies and comedies caused great public resonance - scandals in the French literary world, but, at the same time, they were staged in the best Parisian theaters. His plays “Ernani” and “The King Amuses Himself” were even withdrawn from performances for some time, but then they were again included in the repertoire, and they were a resounding success.

Last years

In 1841, Victor Hugo became a member of the French Academy, and in 1845 he began a political career, which was by no means easy, although it was in 1845 that he received the title of peer of France.

In 1848 he was elected to the National Assembly, where he remained until 1851. Not supporting the new revolution and the accession to the throne of Napoleon III, Hugo went into exile and returned to France only in 1870. In 1876 he became a senator.

The writer died in 1885. In France, mourning was declared for 10 days. Victor Hugo was buried in the Pantheon.

Family

In 1822, Hugo married Adele Foucher. This marriage produced five children, of whom only the youngest daughter, Adele Hugo, gained some fame.

Other biography options

Such great works of the author as the epic novel “Les Miserables”, the novel “The Last Day of a Man Condemned to Execution”, and the novel “The Man Who Laughs” caused great public resonance. Figures of world art and culture, such as F. Dostoevsky, A. Camus, Charles Dickens, highly appreciated Hugo’s literary talent, and Dostoevsky generally believed that his “Crime and Punishment” was in many ways inferior to Hugo’s novels.
It is known that about a million people came to the writer’s funeral to say goodbye to him.

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Hugo Victor is one of the outstanding French novelists of the 19th century, writer, poet, prose writer and playwright, author of the legendary work “Notre Dame Cathedral”. Hugo's biography is quite interesting, since he lived during the turbulent times of European bourgeois revolutions.

Brief biography of Victor Hugo for children

Option 1

His writings were highly appreciated. Readers paid attention to his work after the release of the satire “Telegraph”. At the age of 20, Hugo Victor married Adele Fouché, with whom he later had five children. A year later, the novel “Gan the Icelander” was published.

The play “Cromwell” (1827) with elements of romantic drama caused a strong reaction from the public. Such outstanding personalities as Merimee, Lamartine, Delacroix began to visit his house more often. The famous novelist Chateaubriand had a great influence on his work.

The writer's first full-fledged and undoubtedly successful novel is considered to be “Notre Dame de Paris” (1831). This work was immediately translated into many European languages and began to attract thousands of tourists from all over the world to France. After the publication of this book, the country began to treat ancient buildings more carefully.

In 1841, Hugo Victor was elected to the French Academy, in 1845 he received the title of peer, and in 1848 he was elected to the National Assembly. Hugo Victor was an opponent of the coup d'etat of 1851 and after the proclamation of Napoleon III as emperor he was in exile (he lived in Brussels). In 1870 he returned to France, and in 1876 he was elected senator. Victor Hugo died on May 22, 1885 due to developing pneumonia. More than a million people attended his funeral.

Option 2

Victor Marie Hugo is, in my opinion, an amazing person whom the 18th century gave us. He survived betrayal, knew true love, suffered hardships, but like a phoenix, he managed to be reborn from the ashes, and even after his death, the star of this genius continues to illuminate our path. “How did this star appear?” - you ask.

Victor-Marie Hugo was born on February 26, 1802 in Besançon in France, where his father, J. L. S. Hugo, commanded one of Napoleonic army semi-brigades. By this time, his father and mother (nee Sophie-Françoise Trebuchet) had been married for five years, and by that time had two sons.

Victor Hugo's early years were spent in the company of both parents, but later, at the request of his father, Victor was sent to a boarding school. The parent believed that an education based on the system would benefit the boy and also protect him from the influence of his mother’s royalist beliefs.

From the age of 14, Hugo Victor had already discovered his talent as a writer, in which his mother supported him a lot. After graduating from college, when he lived with her with his brothers, she helped him take his first, tentative steps on his chosen path.

His infatuation with Adele Fouché, the daughter of longtime friends of his family, also dates back to this period. Despite their close relationship, his mother and the girl’s parents prevent them from getting closer, and only after the death of Hugo’s mother can they get married. This marriage gave Victor five children.

The next ten years of Hugo's life can be called his literary youth. As a writer and playwright, Victor achieved a lot, which cannot be said about his personal life. During this period, his wife showed vicious favor towards a little-known writer, which became the reason for the quarrel between the Hugo couple. The relationship between the former spouses took on a purely formal character.

Since 1833, a new period began in the writer’s life, which was marked by the appearance of Juliette Drouet. The writer's love for the former courtesan lasted almost half a century and ended only with the death of Juliette. Despite numerous love affairs, Juliette was Hugo's only true love, infinitely devoted to him. The relationship, stunning in its depth, largely influenced Victor’s personality.

Two years after the death of Hugo’s beloved, Victor left this world. The French government decided to hold a national funeral. On the morning of June 1, 1885, a funeral ceremony was held, attended by more than two million people. Victor Hugo was buried in the Pantheon, but cannot be forgotten today. His star will burn as long as civilization lives.

Option 3

Born in Besançon, he received a classical education. In 1822 he published his first collection of poems.

He started out as a classicist, but by the early 30s he became the leader of a new literary movement - romanticism. At the same time, the novel “Notre Dame de Paris” was published. Hugo Victor actively participates in political life; he supported the revolution of 1848.

After the defeat of the Second Republic, he went into voluntary exile, first to Belgium, then to the island of Guernsey.

After the fall of the empire, he returned to his homeland and spent all the months of the Prussian siege in Paris. He opposed the repression of participants in the Paris Commune.

He was a member of the National Assembly and a senator.

In exile, he completed his most famous work, the novel "", and after returning to France he published the novel "The Year 93".

“Notre Dame Cathedral”

The novel “Notre Dame de Paris” by Victor Hugo became a real masterpiece in world literature; it was translated into many languages. Tourists flocked to Paris, began to revive old buildings, and showed them due respect.

Victor Hugo - biography of personal life

The famous writer was constant not only in his views, but also in his personal life. He married once because he found in his face Adele Foucher your only love. It was a happy marriage that produced five children. The wife did not read the writer’s works and did not share the admiration of admirers of his talent. There is information that Hugo's wife cheated on him with his friend.

But Victor himself remained faithful to his wife, although some sources claim that Hugo was famous not only as a great writer, but also for his love of love. Unfortunately, not everything went smoothly with the birth of successors to the Hugo family. The first child died in infancy. The remaining children, except for the last daughter Adele, did not survive their famous father. Victor was very worried about the loss of his children.

Illness, the last years of the writer

Hugo fell ill with pneumonia. He could have been cured if he were not old. At 83 years old, the body is already weakened and responds inadequately to medications and the efforts of doctors. The funeral was very magnificent, almost a million people came to say goodbye to the great author of Notre Dame, and the farewell to the writer lasted for 10 days. The government allowed this ceremony and did not interfere with this procedure, as it understood how popular the writer was among the French population.

Option 3

Victor Marie Hugo (February 28, 1802 – May 22, 1885) was a French poet, writer and playwright. Since 1841 he has been an honorary member of the French Academy. Hugo is considered one of the most talented people of his time, as well as one of the most significant figures of French romanticism.

Childhood

Victor Hugo was born on February 28 in the French town of Benzason. His father served in Napoleonic army, and his mother taught music in one of the city schools. In addition to Victor, there were two more brothers in the family - Abel and Eugene, who later also followed in their father’s footsteps and were killed in one of the battles.

Due to the fact that Victor's father often had to go on business trips, the family moved from place to place every few weeks. So, the boy and his older brothers, almost from birth, traveled around Italy, major cities of France, were in Corsica, Elba and in many places where Napoleon’s military armies were serving at that time.

Many bibliographers believe that constant travel only broke the fate of little Victor, but the writer himself often mentioned that it was travel that allowed him to look at life differently, learn to notice the smallest details and subsequently compare them in his works.

Since 1813, Victor and his mother moved to Paris. At that time, the mother was having a stormy affair with General Lagori, who agreed to move his beloved and her son closer to him. So, Victor was torn away from the rest of his brothers, who remained with his father, and transported to Paris, where he began his education.

Youth and the beginning of a writing career

According to many bibliographers, Victor’s mother was never in love with Lagori and agreed to marry him only for the sake of her son. The woman understood that, finding herself next to her military father, who was an ordinary soldier, her son would sooner or later join the army, which means he would ruin his destiny and career forever.

She could not stand the fact that her husband “took away” her two other sons, so, having met Lagori, she decides to at least try to save Victor’s fate. So, the future writer and playwright finds himself in the capital of France.

In 1814, thanks to the connections and authority of General Lagorie, Hugo was accepted into the Lyceum of Louis the Great. This is where his talent for creating unique works manifests itself. Hugo created such tragedies as "Yrtatine", "Athelie ou les scandinaves" and "Louis de Castro", but since Victor was not confident in his talent, the works did not reach publication until several months after their creation.

For the first time, he decides to declare himself at the Lyceum competition for the best poem - “Les avantages des études” was written especially for the event. By the way, Victor receives the coveted prize, after which he participates in two more competitive events, where he also wins.

In 1823, the first full-fledged work of Victor Hugo, entitled “Gan the Icelander,” was published. Despite the fact that the author himself is confident that his creation will be appreciated by the public, it receives only a few positive reviews. The main criticism of this work comes from Charles Nodier, with whom Hugo would later become best friends until 1830, when the literary critic began to allow himself overly harsh negative reviews of his comrade’s works.

It is no coincidence that Victor Hugo is called one of the key personalities of romanticism. This was facilitated by the publication of the work “Cromwell” in 1827, where the author openly supports the French revolutionary Francois-Joseph Talme.

However, the work receives recognition and positive reviews not even for the revolutionary spirit of the playwright, but rather for the fact that the author departed from the classical canons of the unity of place and time. At that time, this was the only such precedent, so “Cromwell” became a reason for debate and heated discussions not only among many literary critics, but even other writers.

Work in the theater

Since 1830, Victor Hugo has worked primarily in the theater. This period includes such works of the author as “Rays and Shadows”, “Inner Voices” and several other plays, which were almost immediately shown to the general public.

A year before, Hugo creates the play Ernani, which he manages to stage on stage with the help of one of his influential friends. The plot and overall picture of the work again become the reason for battles between critics, because Hugo completely changes the canons and mixes the so-called classical (in his opinion, old) art with the new. The result is almost completely rejected by both critics and the actors themselves. But there is also a supporter of Hugo - Théophile Gautier, who advocates novelty in art and ensures that Ernani is staged in several more city theaters.

Personal life

In the autumn of 1822, Victor Hugo met his first and only love, the Frenchwoman Adele Fouché. Unlike the writer, Adele comes from an aristocratic family that was forced to hide for some time due to suspicion of the murder of one of the kings. Nevertheless, Fouche's ancestors were acquitted, after which the aristocrats were fully restored to their privileges in society.

That same year, the couple secretly got married. The marriage produced five children: Francois-Victor, Leopoldina, Adele, Leopold and Charles. The family has always been support and support for Hugo. He always strove for his loved ones and until the last minute he recalled with tenderness all the moments spent together with people close to him.

When recalling the literature of the Romantic era, one cannot help but mention Victor Hugo, the famous French writer and playwright, who is probably one of the most famous natives of this country. Being an incredibly gifted person, Victor Hugo devoted his entire life to writing, creating, among other things, a number of real masterpieces, which are rightfully considered the property of world literature. His work has left an indelible mark on history, and his books have been translated into dozens of different languages.

Facts from the biography of Victor Hugo

The writer's full name is Victor Marie Hugo.
The future writer was born on a Parisian street where local glassblowers lived. Unfortunately, the house where Hugo was born has not survived to this day.
Victor Hugo's father was a general in Napoleonic army.
His talent for writing manifested itself very early. So, when he was only fourteen years old, he had already written two tragedies, which, unfortunately, were then lost.
In addition to dramas, tragedies and other fiction, Victor Hugo also wrote poetry.
Throughout his life, Hugo tried to keep up with newfangled trends, attending various youth events of those years, even at a very advanced age.
His first success came precisely in the field of poetry, when at the age of 16 he won several poetry competitions. The French king Louis XVIII highly appreciated the work of the young poet and granted Hugo a substantial monetary award.
A little-known fact: Victor Hugo was also a very talented artist, although he did not develop this skill. However, he first started drawing when he was only eight years old.
The writer was the youngest of his parents' three children; he had two older brothers.
When Victor Hugo was overcome by another crisis, he locked himself in an empty room with a pen and paper, and created his works completely naked, so that even his clothes would not distract him.
Initial reviews of Les Misérables, Victor Hugo's most famous novel, were negative. Now there are 16 adaptations of it, as well as several film adaptations.
Working on Les Misérables took him about 20 years.
Victor Hugo's wife was his childhood friend.
For 16 years, the writer lived in one of the Paris hotels. Later he bought a house for himself.
In his youth, Victor Hugo's idol was the famous French writer Chateaubriand. He even declared that he would be “Chateaubriand or nothing.”
In his marriage, he had five children, but one of them died in infancy.
Victor Hugo wrote the famous “Notre Dame de Paris” when he was 29 years old.
For 50 years, the writer had a love relationship with another woman, Juliette Drouet, whom he called his “true wife.”
Hugo's novel about the fate of the hunchback Quasimodo and the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda helped preserve the famous Notre Dame Cathedral. This now Gothic building, the construction of which began in the 12th century, is one of the most famous symbols of the French capital, but during Hugo’s time it was in extremely poor condition and could have been demolished.
Despite the fact that Hugo had everything one could dream of: talent, money, influential friends, he was never able to provide a happy life for his children. The eldest surviving daughter, Leopoldina, died at the age of nineteen while sailing on a yacht with her husband. The youngest, Adele, deeply shocked by the death of her sister, having experienced unhappy love and flight from France, lost her mind and ended her days in a psychiatric hospital. The sons of the famous writer did not live long either: both Charles and Francois-Victor died at the age of 45.
Victor Hugo was not known for his modesty, declaring himself to be “the only classic of his century” and claiming that he knew French better than anyone else.
After the death of Victor Hugo, the coffin with his body was placed under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris for 10 days. About a million people came to say goodbye to him.
One of the Paris metro stations was named in honor of the great writer.
The cause of Victor Hugo's death was pneumonia. Already an old man, at the age of 84, he took part in a parade in his honor, at which he caught a cold, and this illness later developed into pneumonia.
One of the craters on the planet Mercury was named "Hugo".