Victor Hugo: Biography

Victor-Marie Hugo was born in 1802 in Besancon, France. His father was a general in Napoleon’s army, and the young Victor Hugo spent his childhood traveling with his father in Spain and Italy. At eleven, he moved to Paris to live with his mother, and began nurturing his interest in literature. Hugo’s body of work includes essays, plays, poetry, and novels. Recognized today as one of France’s greatest novelists, Hugo was well-known for his philosophical poems and essays in his day. His other famous works include Les Contemplations (The Contemplations), a collection of poems, and the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831). He was a leading figure in the Romantic literary movement. An early champion of human rights and legal reform, especially the abolition of capital punishment, Hugo’s works reflect his social concerns.