Victor Hugo – One of the Greatest French Writers
Victor Hugo is considered to be one of the greatest French writers of all time. He was born Victor-Marie Hugo in Besançon in February 1802 and is most famous for his novel Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Victor Hugo Avenue in Paris is a lasting memorial to the French writer and looks amazing with its symmetrical tree lines when viewed from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. (Photo above)
Victor Hugo was vocal in his political views, publicly and passionately supporting Republicanism and actively critical of Absolutism. Gaining national hero status because of his literary works and outspoken criticism of Louis Napoleon, when he died in 1885, he was given a national funeral, his body then lay in state at the Arc de Triomphe and he was later interred in the Panthéon.
