Contents
Victor Hugo
Writing Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
Notre-Dame de Paris · Les Contemplations
- Born
- 26 February 1802
- Birthplace
- Besançon, France
- Died
- 22 May 1885
More people
Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo was a French novelist, poet and playwright whose literary career was bound to public life. His writing addressed poverty, punishment and political freedom across fiction, verse and speeches.
Early life
A divided household
His father was an army officer; childhood moves and his parents’ separation shaped his early years.
Early poems
Began writing as a teenager and gained attention for poetry.
Career
- 1820s
Poet and dramatist
Established himself in the French Romantic movement.
- 1830s–1840s
Literary and public roles
Published major fiction and entered national political life.
- 1851–1870
Exile
Opposed Louis-Napoléon’s seizure of power and lived abroad, notably in Guernsey.
- 1870s–1880s
Return to France
Returned after the fall of the Second Empire and became a national literary figure.
Selected work
Notre-Dame de Paris
A novel about desire, exclusion and the cathedral, known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
Les Contemplations
Poetry including reflections on his daughter Léopoldine’s death.
Les Misérables
Jean Valjean’s life unfolds amid poverty, law and rebellion.
Beyond work
Abolition of the death penalty
Publicly argued against capital punishment.
Drawing
Produced thousands of drawings, many using ink in experimental ways.
Sources & photo credit
Life and career ↗Institutional or specialist reference ↗Photo: Étienne Carjat. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
