French writer Victor Hugo is known to almost everyone as the author of a brilliant work of art "Notre Dame de Paris". Although, of course, this is far from his only novel. Even today, Victor Hugo is recognized as one of the most widely read writers in France. His biography is still of interest to both specialists and ordinary literature lovers.
Hugo in childhood and youth
Victor Hugo was born in 1802 in the French town of Besancon, in the family of a general of the Napoleonic army. In the early years of Victor's life, the Hugo family quite often (this was due to the peculiarities of his father's service) moved from one place to another. In 1813, the parents of the future writer divorced, and the boy stayed with his mother in the capital - in Paris.
From 1814 to 1818, Victor was educated at the Lyceum of Louis the Great, where the children of the noblemen were mainly trained. Already at this time, Hugo became interested in literature - he created several plays, translated into French the works of the ancient Roman poet Virgil, composed a couple of dozen of his poems.
From 1819 to 1821, Victor Hugo happened to publish his own print magazine - Le Conservateur littéraire. In this field, the writer proved to be a supporter of the monarchy and an adherent of conservative royalist views. However, his political position in the future will change dramatically.
It is worth mentioning another event related to the personal life of the young Hugo: in October 1822 he married a sweet girl named Adele Foucher. The couple eventually had five children - two daughters and three sons.
The first novels and the advent of romanticism
"Gan Icelander" was the name of the first Hugo novel published in 1823. And although he was rather heavily criticized in print, the young Hugo continued his literary career. In 1826, he unveiled his second novel, entitled Bug-Jargal. And in 1827 his play “Cromwell” was released, which marked the complete departure of Hugo from classicism and its canons. He became a follower of the aesthetics of romanticism.
In 1831, Hugo published the novel Notre Dame de Paris. In a short time he was translated into the main European languages and became very successful. Interestingly, one of the goals that Hugo set when creating this book was to preserve the Gothic building of the Cathedral (then they really wanted to dismantle it as non-modern).
Hugo in the forties and early fifties
In 1841, Hugo became part of the French Academy, in 1845 he became a peer (that is, one of the representatives of the upper class closest to the monarch). And in 1848, after the next French Revolution, he was even elected to the National Assembly.
Hugo strongly opposed the coup d'etat of 1851. When Napoleon III (in fact, the last monarch in the history of France) was proclaimed emperor, the writer was forced to leave his homeland - he settled in Brussels.
