HUGO, VICOMTE VICTOR MARIE (ii-go), a distinguished French poet, politician, and man of letters; born in Besancon, France, Feb. 26, 1802. His father was a colonel in the French army. He received a classical education in a re ligious house, and, in 1822, brou,ght out the first volume of his "Odes and Bal lads"; his tales "Hans of Iceland," and "Bug Jargal," were also written about this time. In 1826 he published a second volume of the "Odes and Ballads," and in 1827 he composed his drama "Crom well." In 1829 he published his "Last Days of a Condemned Criminal." Hugo prepared a further attack on the clas sical style of French dramatic literature in his "Hernani," first played at the Theatre Francais in 1830, when it caused a scene of riotous confusion. Shortly after the revolution of July, 1830, his "Marion de Lorme," which had been suppressed by the censorship under the Restoration, was performed with suc cess. "The King Amuses Himself" was also performed at the Theatre Francais in January, 1832, but was interdicted by the Government the day after. His lyri cal poems, "The Orientals," published in 1828, and "Autumn Leaves," which ap peared in 1832, were received with en thusiasm.
Hugo, who published afterward a number of dramatic pieces of various merit, was, after much opposition, ad mitted into the Academy in 1841, and was created a peer of France by Louis Philippe. In 1849 he was chosen presi dent of the Peace Congress of which he had been a leading member. On the coup d'etat of Dec. 2, 1851, Hugo, then a member of the legislative assembly, was among those deputies who vainly at tempted to assert the rights of the as sembly and to propose the constitution.
His conduct led to his proscription. He took refuge in the island of Jersey, and subsequently in that of Guernsey, having steadfastly refused to avail himself of the general amnesties issued in 1859 and in 1869. He wrote much after he had left France. His very trenchant satire, "Napoleon the Little," appeared at Brus sels in 1852, and was rigorously sup pressed in France, into which country it had been smuggled. "The Chastise ments" was brought out in 1852, also in Brussels; and in 1856 he published, un der the title "Contemplations," a ccIlec tion of lyrical and personal poems which are among his best performanccs. Hu go's admirable romance, "Notre Dame de Paris," is known in England and the United States under the title of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." His social romance, "Les Miserables" (Tbe Wretch ed), appeared in 1862. On the fall of the empire in 1870 he returned to France, was elected to the National As sembly, but soon resigned and lepaired to Brussels, whence he was expelled by the Government on account of the vio lence of his political writings and his sympathy with the Communists. Re turning to Paris, he was (1876) elected a senator for six years. Of his later works may be mentioned "The Man Who Laughs," "The History of a Crime," and "The Four Winds of the Spirit," a vol ume containing some of his most charm ing lyrics. He died in Paris, May 22, 1885, and was buried in the Pantheon.