The French writer Victor Hugo is known to almost everyone as the author of the genius work of art "Notre Dame Cathedral". Although, of course, this is far from his only novel. Even today, Victor Hugo is recognized as one of the most widely read French writers. His biography is still of interest to both specialists and ordinary literature lovers.
Hugo in childhood and youth
Victor Hugo was born in 1802 in the French town of Besançon, in the family of a general in the Napoleonic army. In the first years of Victor's life, the Hugo family quite often (this was due to the peculiarities of his father's service) moved from one place to another. In 1813, the parents of the future writer separated, and the boy stayed with his mother in the capital - in Paris.
From 1814 to 1818, Victor was educated at the Lyceum of Louis the Great, where mainly the children of the nobility studied. Already at this time, Hugo became interested in literature - he created several plays, translated the works of the ancient Roman poet Virgil into French, composed a couple of dozen of his poems.
From 1819 to 1821, Victor Hugo had the opportunity to publish his own print magazine - Le Conservateur littéraire. In this field, the writer proved himself to be a supporter of the monarchy and an adherent of conservative royalist views. However, his political position will change greatly in the future.
It is worth mentioning another event concerning the personal life of the young Hugo: in October 1822, he married a lovely girl named Adele Fouche. The couple eventually had five children - two daughters and three sons.
First novels and the advent of romanticism
Hahn the Icelander was the title of Hugo's first novel, published in 1823. And although he was rather heavily criticized in print, the young Hugo continued his literary career. In 1826, he published his second novel, Bug-Jargal. And in 1827 his play Cromwell was published, which marked Hugo's complete departure from classicism and its canons. He became an adherent of the aesthetics of romanticism.
In 1831, Hugo published the novel Notre Dame Cathedral. In a short time, it was translated into the main European languages and became very successful. Interestingly, one of the goals that Hugo set in creating this book was to preserve the Gothic building of the Cathedral (then they really wanted to dismantle it as out of date).
Hugo in the forties and early fifties
In 1841, Hugo became a part of the French Academy, in 1845 he became a peer (that is, one of the representatives of the upper class closest to the monarch). And in 1848, after another French Revolution, he was even elected to the National Assembly.
Hugo spoke out sharply against the coup d'etat of 1851. When Napoleon III (in fact, the last monarch in the history of France) was proclaimed emperor, the writer was forced to leave his homeland - he settled in Brussels.
The last novels of the writer and death
In 1862, the epic novel Les Miserables was published, on which Hugo began to work in the early forties. This novel is traditionally considered the quintessence of the great writer. The main character of the novel is the former convict Jean Valjean - a strong and noble man who, in the course of the narrative, goes through many trials.
Another famous masterpiece by Hugo, The Man Who Laughs, was released seven years later, in 1869.
The writer was able to come to France only in 1870, that is, after the overthrow of Napoleon III. And four years later, the last major novel of the writer was published with the title "Ninety-third year". To write it, the author had to do some serious work with historical documents. The novel, as indicated by the title, is set in the days of the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century. The novel also features the main figures and ideologists of this revolution - Marat, Robespierre, Danton - as characters.
Until his last days, Victor Hugo led an active social life. He died on May 22, 1885 from pneumonia - at that time he was eighty-four years old. The farewell ceremony for the writer acquired a truly national scale and lasted ten days. The remains of the writer were placed in the Pantheon.
