Biography of Victor Hugo interesting facts. "Notre Dame Cathedral"

The early-born passion and eloquence of the first works brought Hugo success and fame back in early years life. His first collection of poetry, Odes et posies diverses, was published in 1822, when Hugo was only 20 years old. King Louis XVIII granted an annual allowance for the writer. Hugo's poetry was admired for its spontaneous fervor and fluency. This collection of works was followed by a collection of "Odes and ballads" (Odes et Ballades), written in 1826, four years after the first triumph. It presented Hugo as a great poet, a true master of lyrics and song.

Victor Hugo's first mature work in the genre fiction, "The Last Day of the Condemned to Death" (Le Dernier jour d'un condamn), was written in 1829 and reflected a sharp social consciousness writer, which continued in his subsequent works. The story had a great influence on writers such as Albert Camus, Charles Dickens and F. M. Dostoevsky. Claude Gueux, a short documentary story about a real-life murderer who was executed in France, was published in 1834 and was subsequently regarded by Hugo himself as a precursor to his excellent work on social injustice- epic novel "Les Misérables" (Les Miserables). But Hugo's first full novel will be the wildly successful Notre-Dame de Paris. Notre Dame of Paris”), published in 1831 and quickly translated into many languages ​​throughout Europe. One of the effects of the novel's appearance was the subsequent attraction of attention to the desolate Notre Dame Cathedral, which began to attract thousands of tourists who read the popular novel. The book also contributed to a renewed respect for the old buildings, which immediately thereafter began to be actively preserved.

"The Man Who Laughs"

"The Man Who Laughs"(fr. L "Homme qui rit) - one of the most famous novels Victor Hugo, written in the 60s years XIX century. The starting point in the plot of the novel is January 29, 1690, when a child is abandoned in Portland under mysterious circumstances.

Hugo began work on the novel in July 1866 in Brussels. In a letter to the Parisian publisher Lacroix, Victor Hugo proposes the title of the work "By Order of the King", but later, on the advice of friends, settles on the final title "The Man Who Laughs".

The novel was completed on August 23, 1868, and on April 19 - May 8, 1869 was published by Lacroix. The story takes place from 1688 to 1705. Before writing, Hugo spent several months collecting materials on the history of England with late XVII before early XVIII century.

Last years

Victor Hugo died on May 22, 1885, at the age of 84, from pneumonia. funeral ceremony famous writer lasted ten days; about a million people took part in it. On June 1, the coffin with the body of V. Hugo was exhibited for two days under triumphal arch, which was covered with black crepe. After a magnificent national funeral, the ashes of the writer were placed in the Pantheon.

Hugo's sayings

• "Religion marches along with all sorts of superstitions."

• "Music expresses that which cannot be said, but about which it is impossible to remain silent."

• "Time is blind and man is ignorant"
• "Every civilization begins with a theocracy and ends with a democracy."
• “He was deaf and blind at the same time. This is the condition necessary to be an exemplary judge!
• "Of all the ascents that lead from darkness to light, the noblest and most difficult is to be born a royalist and aristocrat and become a democrat."
• “The future belongs to two types of people - a man of thought and a man of work,” said Hugo. - In essence, both of them are one whole: for to think is to work.

• Some obscure poet turned to the Belgian king with a request for pardon for nine criminals sentenced to death penalty in the city of Charleroi. He signed his poems with the name of Victor Hugo. "When it comes to salvation human lives, then let them use my name, ”wrote Hugo in his appeal to the Belgian people. The case was reviewed, and the execution of seven criminals was replaced by hard labor.
• Dostoevsky highly valued Hugo's novel. In one of his letters, he states: "Contrary to the opinion of all our experts, Les Misérables are superior to Crime and Punishment." At the same time, Dostoevsky remarks: “But my love for Miserables does not prevent me from seeing them. major flaws. The figure of Valjean is charming and there are an awful lot of the most characteristic and excellent places ... But on the other hand, how ridiculous are his lovers, what bourgeois French they are in the meanest sense!

The name of Victor Hugo is familiar to everyone since childhood. The author of the famous novels Notre Dame Cathedral, Les Misérables and The Man Who Laughs was not only a great representative of world literature, but also a symbol of France. It was Victor Hugo who had a huge influence on writers such as Albert Camus, Charles Dickens and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. But behind this fame of the writer, a lot of interesting things were hidden. We suggest you familiarize yourself with the most interesting facts about Victor Hugo and his novels.

The house in which he was born has not survived to this day. But, it is known that there, on the Parisian street Notre Dame de Champs, glassblowers lived, where their workshops were located.

Victor Hugo in his youth

When Notre Dame Cathedral saw the world in 1831, the following was written in the preface from the author: “One of my main goals is to inspire the nation with love for our architecture.”

There is a funny anecdote about what happened to Victor Hugo in Prussia:

- What do you do? the gendarme asked him, filling out a questionnaire.

- I ask, how do you earn money for living?

So let's write down: “Hugo. Feather merchant.

Hugo wrote the novel Les Misérables for many years, and during these years he often had a creative crisis. The writer decided to fight this radically: he closed himself in a room where only pen and paper kept him company, and completely undressed so that even clothes would not distract him from writing a novel. even ordered his servants to return his clothes to him only when he managed to write at least something. He began writing the novel Les Misérables in the early 1840s, but work on it was completed only in 1862.

Illustration for the novel "Les Misérables"

Quite possibly the author of the shortest correspondence in the history of the mail. When it came out in 1862 new novel"Les Miserables", the writer was on vacation, but he was still eager to know the reader's reaction to his work. So Hugo sent his publisher an urgent telegram consisting of a single character: "?". That, in turn, was also laconic, sending only: "!".

One of the first editions of the novel "Les Misérables"

Les Misérables became the most popular novel among American soldiers during the civil war in USA. Published in 1862, the book began to appear in the United States in translation into English language even before the end of the year and showed a real sensation, especially among the military.

However, today recognized as a masterpiece, the novel was often criticized in the American press. For example, The New Englander wrote: The entire career of Jean Valjean consists of a series of incredible coincidences strange inconsistencies, and stands in constant antagonism with the principles of truth and honor, which should determine the line of life of everyone an honest man". Even the New York Times, which called the novel "wonderful" and "brilliant," could not resist calling Hugo a "prosaic lunatic"—a kind of mixed review.

Frame from the film "Les Misérables" (2012)

At Victor Hugo I had a special fondness for the feet. He was a real fetishist in this matter. And as it turned out, many other writers had a similar foot urge: Dostoevsky, Goethe, George du Maurier, and F. Scott Fitzgerald were also foot fetishists.

Claimed to have made love to his wife as many as 9 times on their wedding night. Edward Behr, Hugo's researcher, claimed that according to Hugo's hard-to-find diary, Hugo actually managed to do this with his fiancée, Adele. Even if we assume that the writer embellished his exploits a little, for his young wife it was a terrible test. Ber claims that her feelings for her husband after that have never been the same as before. But, despite the complete lack of interest in her husband, Adele bore him five children.

Adele Hugo

He was a true reformer of his time. The writer never grew old and always tried to be at the center of the latest trends in literature, fashion and public life. Even when the writer was already over 70, he constantly visited various events designed more for young people.

He spent the last years of his life in Paris. And even before the writer's death, the street on which the writer's mansion was located was named after him. Therefore, when Hugo answered letters or simply left someone his return address, he always wrote: "Monsieur Victor Hugo on his avenue in Paris."

House of Victor Hugo

died May 22, 1885 from pneumonia, when he was 84 years old. But it is interesting that the writer developed this disease because of the parade in his honor. Hugo was weak and doctors advised him to stay in bed. But the writer was not one of those who can skip the whole action in his honor. So he opened the window wide open to greet his fans from there. The next day he came down with a cold, which later developed into pneumonia.

became the only writer whose funeral procession stopped under the Arc de Triomphe. As a rule, only generals and marshals received such an honor. And the first person with whose gunpowder a funeral procession passed under the arch was Napoleon. funeral ceremony Victor Hugo took place over ten days and was attended by more than a million people. After the funeral, the ashes of the writer were placed in the Pantheon.

Triumphal Arch

For 16 years of his life he lived in the Parisian hotel Roan-Gemin. Now the entrance to his room is free. In this hotel, Hugo worked on his famous novel"Rejected". It was here that he met the writers Lamartine, Alfred de Vigny, Alexandre Dumas, Balzac, Prosper Mérimée and Charles Augustin de Sainte-Beuve. Visitors can see here the writer's manuscripts and drawings, as well as copies of Hugo's first editions. By the way, Milady Winter in the novel by Alexandre Dumas "The Three Musketeers" stayed in these apartments.

A room at the Roan-Gemenet hotel

One of the stations of the Paris metro bears the name Victor Hugo. By the way, it is located on the square that bears the same name. A crater on Mercury was also named in his honor.

In one of the poems, he aptly called himself a "ringing echo." And it really was. His novels have a purpose: moral, historical, social or all at once. The works of Victor Hugo changed the history of France, if not the whole world.

Victor Hugo - French writer, whose works went down in history and became immortal monuments of literary heritage. A lover of Gothic and a representative of romanticism, all his life he despised the laws of society and opposed human inequality. most popular book"Les Misérables" Hugo wrote at the moment creative crisis, but, nevertheless, this novel has become a favorite work of the author's fans around the world.

Childhood and youth

Early 19th century: France passed great revolution, the country destroyed the Old Order and the absolute monarchy, which were replaced by the First French Republic. The slogan “Freedom, equality, fraternity” flourished in the country, and the young commander inspired hope for a brighter future.

It was at the time when the ancient foundations were destroyed, and sprouts from the seeds of the revolution grew in France, that the third son was born to the captain of the Napoleonic army, Leopold Sizhisber Hugo. This event took place on February 26, 1802 in the east of the country, in the city of Besancon. The boy, who was given the name Victor, was sickly and weak, according to the recollections of his mother Sophie Trebuchet, the baby was "no bigger than a table knife."

The family was rich and lived in a large three-story house. Leopold came from a peasant family, but the French Revolution allowed the man to prove himself. The father of the future writer went from an officer of the Republican army to a supporter of Bonaparte and, finally, became a general. Hugo Sr. often traveled due to duty, so the family moved to Italy, Spain, Marseille, as well as to the islands in the Mediterranean and Tuscany. Travel has left a lasting impression on little Victor which will later find an echo in the works of the writer.

From the biography of Hugo's mother, it is only known that she was the daughter of a shipowner.

Sophie and Leopold tried to raise three boys (Victor, Abel and Eugene) in love, but the worldviews of the spouses diverged, which is why they often quarreled. Trebuchet adhered to royalist and Voltairian views and french revolution was a supporter of the Bourbon dynasty, while Hugo the elder was a devoted supporter of Napoleon. Not only political strife forced the parents of the future writer to disperse: Sophie had love on the side with General Victor Lagori.

Due to parental quarrels, the three brothers lived either with Sophie or with Leopold, and in 1813 Victor Hugo's mother and father divorced, and the woman moved to the capital of France, taking with her younger son. In the future, Sophie regretted more than once and tried to reconcile with her husband, but he did not want to forget old grievances.

Mother provided significant influence on Victor: she managed to inspire the child that the Bourbons are adherents of freedom, and the image of the ideal monarch developed in the boy due to the books he read.

Literature

Leopold dreamed that youngest child joined exact sciences, besides, the boy had a talent for mathematics, he perfectly counted and coped with complex equations. Perhaps the general's son would have developed the career of Michel Roll or, but Victor chose a different path and ended up from entering Politechnical University.

The future author of immortal novels preferred Latin verses and books to figures, reading great works with avidity. However, Hugo began to write odes and poems as a child, studying at the Lyceum of Louis the Great, from 1812. The young man was often the author of plays at impromptu school performances: shifted tables served as theater stages, and stage costumes were cut out by inept children's hands from colored paper and cardboard.

When the boy was 14 years old, he was inspired by the first representative of romanticism, Francois Chateaubriand, and dreamed of being like French poet. In his autobiographical diary, the future author of Notre Dame Cathedral wrote 10 notebooks with translations of Virgil's works: then the boy was in hospital due to a wound in his leg.

Later, the self-critical young man found manuscripts carefully collected by his mother and burned his works, believing that he was capable of a more elegant and literary style. On the last notebook, Victor writes that this is nonsense and draws a picture of an egg with a chick inside.

When Victor was 15 years old, he showed himself as a clear supporter of royalism and an adherent of an entrenched literary classicism.

In 1813, young Hugo participates in literary competition, where he presents to the jury members an ode to the benefits of science, "Les avantages des tudes", for which he receives praise and rave reviews. Some judges did not believe that the author of the poem was 15, because in the work Victor spoke like an adult with a formed worldview.

Young Writer praised the Bourbon dynasty in his works: for the ode “On the restoration of the statue of Henry IV”, the young man received the attention and favor of the French authorities, who paid young talent salary. The encouragement with money came in handy, since Leopold refused to help his son financially because of the latter's disagreement to enter the Polytechnic School.

When the boy was 17 years old, he, together with his brother Abel, began publishing a magazine with the catchy title "Literary Conservative", and the collection "Odes", published in 1822, made Victor a recognized poet in the literary public.

Hugo's books embodied the course of romanticism, and the author's writings often hid a social or political aspect, while Byron's English romanticism was a work, mainly actor which was a human person.

The inhabitants of France had to observe social inequality, dirty nooks and crannies, begging, slavery, dissolute behavior of women and other life phenomena, although Paris was considered a city of love. Hugo, like any writer, was an observant person who was worried about surrounding reality. Moreover, in his works, Victor did not delve into the essence of social strife, trying to prove to readers that public problems will be resolved only when a person learns to value morality and morality.

Often works French author were political overtones, in the first serious novel, The Last Day of the Condemned to Death (1829), the writer metaphorically explains his position on the abolition of the death penalty, fixing thoughts and torments literary hero doomed to perish.

Also, the philosophical concept is carried by the work of Victor Hugo "The Man Who Laughs" (previously Victor wanted to call the work "By the Order of the King"), written by the writer in adulthood. The novel describes the horrors of social violence, which was committed by the supreme nobility. The work tells about Lord Gwynplaine, whose face was mutilated in childhood in order to deprive the heir to the throne and status. Due to external inferiority, the boy was treated as a second-rate person, not paying attention to his positive aspects.

"Les Misérables"

The novel "Les Miserables", written by Hugo in 1862, is the pinnacle of the work of the French writer, based on which a film was later made. In concept literary plot there are acute problems of the surrounding life, such as hunger and poverty, the fall of girls into prostitution for the sake of a piece of bread, as well as the arbitrariness of the upper class, which was power.

The protagonist of the work is Jean Valjean, who stole a loaf from a bakery for the sake of a starving family. Due to a frivolous crime, a man received total 19 years in prison, and after his release he became an outcast, who was deprived of the right to a quiet life.

Despite the deplorable position in society, the hero of the novel has a goal - to make the homeless girl Cosette happy.

According to biographers of the French writer, the book is based on real events: in 1846, Hugo personally saw how a man was arrested because of a piece of loaf.

Victor also describes the life of a fervent boy - the orphan Gavroche, who dies during the June uprising, which took place in 1831.

"Notre Dame Cathedral"

The idea of ​​"Notre Dame Cathedral" arises from Victor Hugo in 1828, and the book itself is published in 1831. After the publication of the novel, Hugo becomes an innovator: the writer became the first Frenchman who wrote a work with historical overtones.

Victor relied on the experience of the world famous writer-historian. "Notre Dame Cathedral" had a political motive: during his lifetime, the author of the novel advocated the reconstruction of cultural monuments.

Therefore, the Gothic cathedral in Paris, which the authorities were going to demolish, became the main character of the work. The novel tells about human cruelty and the eternal confrontation between good and evil. This book is dramatic and tells about the unfortunate ugly Quasimodo, in love with the beautiful Esmeralda - the only inhabitant of Paris who did not mock the poor servant of the temple. After Hugo's death, the work was filmed: the famous "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996) was filmed on its basis.

Personal life

The personal life of Victor Hugo was distinguished by the fact that he had a peculiar relationship with the opposite sex. In his youth, the writer falls in love with Adele Fouche, a typical representative of the bourgeoisie. In 1822, the lovers get married. The couple had five children (the first child died in infancy), but the beautiful Adele began to disdain Hugo: she did not consider her husband a talented writer and did not read a single line from his works. But the woman cheated on her husband with his friend Sainte-Beva, denying Victor carnal pleasure, any touch of the writer irritated the obstinate girl, but she preferred to remain silent about betrayals.

Later, Hugo falls in love with the beautiful courtesan Juliet, who was kept by Prince Anatoly Demidov, without denying the girl luxury. The new passion fell passionately in love with the writer, who demanded to end the affair with a rich man. But in relations, Hugo turned out to be extremely stingy: from an elegantly dressed young lady new bride Victora turned into a lady who wore rags: the author of the novels gave Juliet a small amount for expenses and controlled every coin spent.

At new sweetheart Victor had a dream of becoming an actress, but the writer made no effort to get the girl a theatrical role.

Later, the writer’s passion for the aged Zhulte cooled down, and he was not against having fun with girls for one night, for which he organized a separate office in his house.

Death

The great writer died in the spring of 1885 from pneumonia. The news of the death of Victor Hugo instantly spread throughout France, millions of people mourned and participated in the funeral of the author of immortal novels.

One of the favorite places of Hugo's fans was the island of Jersey, where Victor spent 3 happy years and revealed himself as a poet.

Bibliography

• "Les Misérables"
• "Notre Dame Cathedral"
• "The Man Who Laughs"
• "The last day of the condemned to death"
• "Ninety-Third Year"
• "Cosette"
• "Toilers of the Sea"
• "Gavroche"
• "Claude Gue"
• "Ernani"

Quotes

• "Fill up the abyss of ignorance, and you will destroy the den of crimes";
• "Great people rarely appear alone";
• “Ideas are a rare game in the forest of words”;
• “A donkey who knows the way is worth more than a soothsayer who guesses at random”;
• “It doesn't matter to me which side the power is on; what matters is which side is right”;
• “A man is enslaved not only by the soul of a woman, but also by her body, and more often the body than the soul. The soul is the beloved, the body is the mistress.

Victor Marie Hugo - great French writer, playwright, poet, one of prominent representatives romantic direction in literature. Hugo was born on February 26, 1802 in Besançon. He was the third child in the family of Captain J. L. S. Hugo, later his father would receive the rank of general.

Parents did not get along well with each other, often dispersed. After the official permission to live separately, the mother took her son to her. The royalist and Voltairian views of the mother played a significant role in the formation of Hugo as a person. In order for the boy to receive a systematic education, he was sent in 1814 to the Cordier boarding house, from where he was among the most capable students moved to the Lyceum Louis the Great.

His early poetic experiments date back to this time. After graduating from the Lyceum in 1818, Victor Hugo, together with his brothers, began to publish the journal Literary Conservative. The magazine published his earliest poems and the initial version of the novel Byug Jargal (1821).

During this period, he became seriously interested in childhood friend Adele Fouche. However, the mother strongly disapproved of this hobby, and only after her death in 1821 did her father allow the lovers to meet. The father managed to return the love of his son after the death of his mother. In 1822, his first collection, Odes and Miscellaneous Poems, was published, which Louis XVIII liked.

As a reward, the young poet received an annual annuity of 1200 francs, which allowed Hugo to marry Adele. They will have five children from this marriage. In 1823, Hugo's second novel, Gun the Icelander, was published. Written in gothic style he was close to romanticism.

In 1827, Hugo wrote his famous "Preface" to the play "Cromwell", which became the manifesto of French romantic drama. Thanks to him and the poetic collection "Oriental Motives" and the story "The Last Day of the Condemned" published in 1829, Hugo receives well-deserved fame and glory.

1829 marked the beginning of an incredibly fruitful period in the work of Victor Hugo, which lasted until 1843. In 1829, the play "Marion Delorme" was published from his pen, and a month later romantic drama"Ernani", which marked the victory of romanticism and the triumph of the author.

The final victory was secured by the success of the novel Notre Dame Cathedral, which became one of Victor Hugo's most popular novels. Here he first appeared before the reader as an amazing prose writer. Thanks to his dramatic experiences, Hugo gained not only fame, but also a decent fortune.

Working closely with theaters, he met the beautiful actress Juliette Druse, who became his muse and mistress for more than thirty years. Thanks to his great merits in the field of literature, in 1841 Hugo was elected a member of the French Academy. In 1842 they leave him travel notes"Rhine", where the author calls for beneficial cooperation between the two powers - France and Germany.

In 1843, his beloved daughter and son-in-law died tragically. This forced Hugo to move away from an active social life and start writing a social novel, which received the conditional name "Troubles". Work on the novel was suspended as a result of the revolution of 1848, when Hugo returned to an active social and political life.

He was elected a member of the National Assembly. In December 1851, a coup d'etat took place in France, as a result, Napoleon III came to power, against whom Hugo opposed. The writer was forced to spend about twenty years in a foreign land. Despite his wanderings, Hugo will rework and expand the previously conceived novel The Troubles and release it in 1862 under a different title - Les Misérables.

He would create his stunning novels The Toilers of the Sea (1866) and The Man Who Laughs (1869). All these works will bring the author worldwide fame. After the overthrow of Emperor Napoleon III in 1870, Hugo returned to Paris. In 1871 he was elected to the National Assembly.

But disagreement with the policy of the conservatives forced him to leave the deputy post. He continues his literary activity. In 1874 he comes out historical novel"Ninety-Third Year". In 1877, the second part of "Legends of the Ages" was published, as well as a wonderful collection "The Art of Being a Grandfather", created thanks to communication with grandchildren.

In 1883, the final part of The Legend of the Ages was published. In the same year, his love, his muse, his faithful companion of the last thirty years, Juliette Drouet, died. For Hugo, this was a grave loss, he would live for another two years, and on May 22, 1885, this great man passed away. great writer was awarded a state funeral, his ashes rest in the Pantheon next to the remains of Voltaire and Rousseau.

Date of birth: February 26, 1802
Date of death: May 22, 1885
Place of birth: French Republic

Hugo Victor one of the most famous French prose writers. Also Victor Hugo was known as a playwright and poet.

Victor was born in France, in the family of a noble military and wealthy daughter of a shipowner. The boy's family also included French peasants. The family was large, the boy spent his childhood moving from Marseille to Corsica, from Italy to Madrid, as required military necessity father general.

Of course, travel different countries left a deep mark on the impressionable nature of the boy.

Trained Victor for the most part in Madrid, along with the children of the Spanish aristocracy. Spanish schoolchildren did not particularly favor the Frenchman Victor, maybe it was from childhood that his dislike for upper strata society.

The blow for the boy was the decision of the mother to leave her husband for another general. After the break, Victor ended up in Paris. After the fall of Napoleon, his generals were left out of work and their families could no longer spend as much on education as before. The young man begins to read on his own, and the school gives him a little in terms of education.

Then Victor began to write himself. This occupation saved him from starvation after the death of his mother - he was able to feed himself by writing.

Having once written a poem praising the king, Victor received money from him. Inspired by earnings, he was able to marry. Continuing to write, Victor professed the principles of worship of the king, as well as the traditional canons of writing works.

But soon notes of romanticism were added to his works, and then he completely became a preacher of a new style. This provided the writer with a lot of fans, fame and financial well-being. Victor also allowed himself to have a mistress, to whom he devoted many of his poems and prose. The wife was denied such liberties and she met with her lover in secret.

The writer splashed out all his impressions on paper, he wrote many works that were warmly received by critics and ordinary readers. Good luck accompanied social status- Victor became a peer, having changed his political allegiances in favor of a dynasty from Orleans. In general, Victor was famous for his political flexibility and flair for guessing a politician who has a great future ahead of him.

The same was true for royalty.

The logical result was that Victor was forced to leave France for nearby territories, where he was ostracized by Napoleon III and spent about two decades there.

After the appearance of the republic, the writer returned to his homeland. By this time, the novel Les Misérables had been completed, which added even more fame to his return.

At home, he continued to write a lot and died of pneumonia, surrounded by fame and fortune in 1885.

His funeral was attended by several hundred thousand people and lasted over a week.

Achievements of Victor Hugo:

He created 13 plays, 9 novels and many poems and short literary works
He was a member of the French Academy

Dates from the biography of Victor Hugo:

1802 was born
1807 move to Italy
1811 move to Madrid
1813 return to Paris
1814 education at the lyceum
1822 marriage to A. Fouche
1823 birth of first child Leopold
1828 production of Amy Robsart
1841 became an academician
1845 became a peer
1870 returned to his homeland from exile
1883 died

Interesting Facts Victor Hugo:

Was faithful to his mistress for about thirty years
Started writing at the age of 14
The funeral of the writer lasted about ten days.
He was legally married and had five children.