Victor Hugo

Born in Besançon in 1802, Victor Hugo became a leading figure of French Romanticism and built a career that stretched across poetry, drama, fiction, and political writing. He is especially remembered around the world for Notre-Dame de Paris (1831) and Les Misérables (1862), novels that combine unforgettable characters with sharp attention to poverty, law, mercy, and inequality.

Hugo was more than a novelist. He was also a playwright, poet, journalist, and public figure who spoke out on political and human rights issues. After opposing Napoleon III, he spent many years in exile, and that period became an important part of both his life and his writing.

When he died in 1885, Hugo was honored with a national funeral in France, a sign of how deeply he had entered public life as well as literary history. His books remain widely read because they offer both grand drama and a very human belief that compassion can change lives.