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Victor Hugo
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<p>Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (French: [viktɔʁ maʁi yɡo] ⓘ; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a <a href="/facts/France/CxIeIKM3">French</a> <a href="/facts/Romanticism/lfG31kE3">Romantic</a> author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. </p><p>His most famous works are the novels <i><a href="/facts/The_Hunchback_of_Notre-Dame/NBw4Sd0Q">The Hunchback of Notre-Dame</a></i> (1831) and <i><a href="/facts/Les_Mis%25C3%25A9rables/sKTzG5r8">Les Misérables</a></i> (1862). In France, Hugo is renowned for his poetry collections, such as <i><a href="/facts/Les_Contemplations/RQ5BIVYT">Les Contemplations</a></i> and <i><a href="/facts/La_L%25C3%25A9gende_des_si%25C3%25A8cles/73DnB1Kx">La Légende des siècles</a></i> (<i>The Legend of the Ages</i>). Hugo was at the forefront of the <a href="/facts/Romanticism/lfG31kE3">Romantic literary movement</a> with his play <i><a href="/facts/Cromwell_(play)/IQLM16zz">Cromwell</a></i> and drama <i><a href="/facts/Hernani_(drama)/SNUh3JpM">Hernani</a></i>. His works have inspired music, both during his lifetime and after his death, including the opera <i><a href="/facts/Rigoletto/DB1G89nl">Rigoletto</a></i> and the musicals <i><a href="/facts/Les_Mis%25C3%25A9rables_(musical)/cagajU4W">Les Misérables</a></i> and <i><a href="/facts/Notre-Dame_de_Paris_(musical)/CMb0sd2p">Notre-Dame de Paris</a></i>. He produced more than 4,000 drawings in his lifetime, and campaigned for social causes such as the abolition of <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_France/jX5DXc8S">capital punishment</a> and <a href="/facts/Abolitionism/LDD5kEAc">slavery</a>. </p><p>Although he was a committed <a href="/facts/Royalist/Vp5YnVUs">royalist</a> when young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of <a href="/facts/Republicanism/gUetSmCx">republicanism</a>, serving in politics as both deputy and senator. His work touched upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. His opposition to <a href="/facts/Absolutism_(European_history)/bw15yYtX">absolutism</a>, and his literary stature, established him as a national hero. Hugo died on 22 May 1885, aged 83. He was given a <a href="/facts/State_funeral/M2s2sL7y">state funeral</a> in the <a href="/facts/Panth%25C3%25A9on/4vSqDnaS">Panthéon</a> of <a href="/facts/Paris/DrNHpwnA">Paris</a>, which was attended by over two million people, the largest in French history. </p>