Victor Hugo was the third son of Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet. Since Hugo’s father was an officer, they moved frequently learning much from these travels. In 1803 Victor’s mother and her children settled in Paris dominating his education and upbringing.
Resulting in his early work reflecting her beliefs in King and Faith. During the events of France’s 1848 Revolution was when he would began to rebel against his Catholic belief and push for Republicanism and Freethought. In his youth he secretly married his childhood love Adèle Foucher in 1822 against his mother’s wishes, publishing “Han d’islande” his first novel the following year, and “Bug-Jargal” his second work in 1826. Between 1829 and 1840, he published five more volumes of poetry cementing his reputation as one of the greatest romantic writers of his time. Influenced by François-René de Chateaubriand, the famous figure in the literary movement of Romanticism. In his youth furthering the cause of Romanticism, by becoming involved in politics, forcing him into exile due to his political stances until 1874 where he spent the remainder of his life in France. Throughout his life Hugo kept believing in the inevitable progress of the human race.
On August 3 1879 he stated, “In the twentieth century war will be dead, the scaffold will be dead, hatred will be dead, frontier boundaries will be dead, dogmas will be dead; man will live”. Despite the personal loss of all 5 of his children, wife, and mistress throughout his life he stayed committed to the cause of political change. On 30 January 1876, he was elected to the newly created Senate. Hugo’s death from pneumonia on 22 May 1885, at the age of 83, generated global mourning, where more than two million people joined his funeral in Paris, where he shares a cryptwith Alexandre Dumas and Émile Zola.
-Hugo became the figurehead of the Romantic literary movement with “Les Miserables” published in 1862 after 17 years of publishing, a romantic work on social injustice, selling out in just hours of initial release having an enormous impact on French society. His novel Notre-Dame de Paris ( a tragic fictional romance about discrimination), published in 1831, also made a large impact from leading the City of Paris into restoring the neglected Cathedral of Notre Dame, which was attracting thousands of tourists who had read the world wide popular novel. The book also inspired an appreciation for pre-Renaissance buildings, after beginning to be properly preserved. Most importantly Victor Hugo gave us lessons of the human race through his books, and hope/optimism for future generations.
