Victor Hugo, in full Victor Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist. He is considered the most well-known French Romantic writer. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry but also rests upon his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831, (also known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame).
Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed; he became a passionate supporter of republicanism, and his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Panthéon.
Read more about Victor Hugo: Personal Life, Writings, Political Life and Exile, Religious Views, Victor Hugo and Music, Declining Years and Death, Last Will, Drawings, Memorials, Works
Famous quotes by victor hugo:
“The Poor Man whom everyone speaks of, the Poor Man whom everyone pities, one of the repulsive Poor from whom ‘charitable’ souls keep their distance, he has still said nothing. Or, rather, he has spoken through the voice of Victor Hugo, Zola, Richepin. At least, they said so. And these shameful impostures fed their authors. Cruel irony, the Poor Man tormented with hunger feeds those who plead his case.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“To rescue from oblivion even a fragment of a language which men have used and which is in danger of being lost—that is to say, one of the elements, whether good or bad, which have shaped and complicated civilization—is to extend the scope of social observation and to serve civilization.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“The greatest blunders, like the thickest ropes, are often compounded of a multitude of strands. Take the rope apart, separate it into the small threads that compose it, and you can break them one by one. You think, ‘That is all there was!’ But twist them all together and you have something tremendous.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“Taste is the common sense of genius.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“The omnipotence of evil has never resulted in anything but fruitless efforts. Our thoughts always escape from whoever tries to smother them.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)