Biography of Victor Hugo:- French poet, playwright and novelist considered the greatest exponent of Romanticism in his country. Victor Hugo’s childhood was spent in Besançon, except for two years (1811-1812) in which he lived with his family in Madrid, where his father had been appointed general commander. Of early literary vocation, already in 1816 wrote in a school notebook: “I want to be Chateaubriand or nothing”.
Biography of Victor Hugo
- Born:- 26 February 1802, Besançon, France
- Died:- 22 May 1885, Paris, France
- spouse:- Adèle Foucher (m. 1822–1868)
- Movies:- Les Misérables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- Children:- Léopoldine Hugo, Adèle Hugo, Charles Hugo, François-Victor Hugo, Léopold Hugo
In 1819 he distinguished himself in the Toulouse Flower Games and founded Le Conservateur littéraire , together with his brothers Abel and Eugène, but his real introduction to the literary world came in 1822, with his first poetic work: Odes and diverse poetry.
See Also: Biography of Martin Luther
In the preface to his drama Cromwell (1827) rejected the rules of neoclassical theater, proclaimed the principle of “freedom in art” and defined his time from the conflict between the spiritual tendency and the imprisonment in the carnal man; considered the foundational manifesto of romantic theater, the text placed Victor Hugo as the head of the movement, and his house became the seat of the romantic cenacle.
From that new position of head of ranks of Romanticism, Victor Hugo’s poetic virtuosity was revealed in Las Orientales (1829), which satisfied the taste of his contemporaries for Oriental exoticism.
The censorship of her five-act drama Marion Delorme delayed her appearance on the stage until the premiere of Hernani (1830), a masterpiece that triumphed in the Comédie Française.
The portrayal of this drama was a real scandal, but it also meant the victory of the young romantic guard over the old classicism and marked a milestone in literature for its break with the rigid norms of French tragedy.
In 1830 he began a phase of singular literary fecundity, in which he distinguished, besides different books of poetry, his first great novel, Our Lady of Paris , and the drama Ruy Blas .
In 1841 he entered the French Academy, but, discouraged by the burdensome failure of Los Burgraves , left the theater in 1843. The death of his daughter Leopoldine, while he was traveling, added to the disappointment of his wife’s treachery with his friend Sainte-Beuve , plunged him into a deep crisis.
Delivered to an increasingly intense political activity, Victor Hugo was named a pair of France in 1845. Despite appearing in the 1848 elections in support of the candidacy of Napoleon III Bonaparte , his speeches on misery, affairs of Rome and the Falloux law anticipated its break with the Conservative Party.
On 17 July 1851 he denounced the dictatorial ambitions of Napoleon III and, after the coup, fled to Belgium. Although he did not publish any work between 1843 and 1851, he conceived his novel The Miserables and composed numerous poems that appeared later.
In 1852 he settled with his family in Jersey (United Kingdom), from where he passed in 1856 to Guernsey. He remained there, in his property of Hauteville-House, until 1870. Republican convinced, denounced without ceasing the vices of the conservative regime of his country and in 1859 rejected the amnesty that offered him Napoleón III.
From this exile of twenty years were born The punishments , brilliant string of satirical poetry; the trilogy of The End of Satan , God and The Legend of Ages , an example of philosophical poetry in which he traces the path of humanity towards truth and good from biblical times to his time; and his novel Los miserables , denouncing the situation of the most humble classes.
Back in Paris, after the fall of Napoleon III (1870), Victor Hugo was publicly acclaimed and elected deputy. He was defeated in the following elections, but in 1876 obtained the seat of senator of Paris, position from which defended the amnesty of the supporters of the Commune. However, disillusioned by politics, he returned to Hauteville-House (1872-1873).
The pace of its production was diminishing, but its prestige was constantly increasing: a banquet commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of Hernani ; in 1881, his birthday was officially celebrated and the senators, in the gallery, rose without exception in his honor.
At his death, the French government decreed a day of national mourning and his remains were transferred to the Pantheon. Regarded as one of the greatest French poets, his later influence on Baudelaire , Rimbaud and even Mallarmé and the surrealists is undeniable.
