Victor Hugo

26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885

Biography:

Born in Besançon, France, into a royalist family, his father was a general in Napoleon’s army. After the fall of Napoleon, his family experienced political turmoil, and he himself began to support republican ideals.

In 1822, Hugo married Adele Foucher, with whom he had five children. Of these, only one daughter outlived her father. His marriage was tumultuous and the two eventually separated but never divorced.

Hugo was an outspoken critic of the monarchy and empire and in 1851, after Napoleon III’s coup d’état, he fled into exile on the island of Guernsey, where he spent 19 years. During this period he wrote some of his most famous works, including parts of Les Misérables.

He returned to France in 1870 after the fall of Napoleon III. In a speech in 1876 he called on the world to support the Bulgarians in their national liberation struggle.

He died in Paris and was buried in the Pantheon, escorted by two million people. According to legend, the Paris brothels remained closed on the day of his death in a sign of mourning.

Significance:

Victor Hugo is one of the most important literary artists in history. His works are complete masterpieces of Romanticism, representing the values at the heart of the human spirit: love, the pursuit of freedom, and the ability to dedicate one’s life to the achievement of supreme ideals. “Les Misérables” could easily claim to be the most significant novel on a universal human level. The characters there are a symbol of the belief in the superhuman who has the passion and the will to change the fate of the whole world.

As a person, Victor is committed to the idea of the dignity and potential of human beings. He defends in word and deed the rights of the poor, the oppressed and the criminalized. He opposes the death penalty, defends religious freedoms and the right of all groups to participate in democratic elections. Unwaveringly he believes in man’s ability to better himself and in his responsibility to contribute to a better world.

Notable work:

„Les Misérables“

„Oceano Nox“

Quotes:

To love or have loved, that is enough. Ask nothing further. There is no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of life.

This first glance of a soul which does not yet know itself is like dawn in the heavens; it is the awakening of something radiant and unknown.

Be like the bird that, passing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings.

Perseverance, secret of all triumphs.

No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.