Friday, February 26, 2010

Happy Birthday, Hugo


Today is the birthday of author Victor Hugo, born February 26, 1802. Most people know him by his novels Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but did you know he was also an artist? Behold, one of Hugo's little doodles below:

 

Hrmm...anywho, here are some other fascinating tidbits about Hugo: 
  • Hugo was very close with his mother and even waited until her death to marry his longtime sweetheart, Adele Foucher. Hugo’s mother disapproved of the match.
  • Hugo’s play Hernani (1830) started a riot between conservative and liberal factions in the audience.
  • The shortest correspondence in history is credited to Hugo and his editor upon the release of Les Miserables. Hugo was on vacation during the time the book was published and was curious as to its success. He telegrammed his editor “?” and was rewarded with the reply “!”
  • Although he never directly attacked the Catholic church, he was critical of its dogma.
  • More than two million people marched in Victor Hugo’s funeral procession through Paris.

6 comments:

Marie Cloutier said...

bon anniversaire, hugo! Love his books.

Anonymous said...

Alright, so I must admit I've never read Victor Hugo, but I've seen Les Miserables the musical numerous times. It's one of my favorites. Does that count?

A Bookshelf Monstrosity said...

Haha, sure it counts! :)

Andi said...

Great tidbits about Hugo! Now I need to actually read one of this books.

justpeachy36 said...

Victor Hugo, very interesting writer.

I gave an award on my blog today:

http://debsbookbag.blogspot.com/2010/02/one-lovely-blog-award.html

Veens said...

Not read anything by him till now... but I will :)

Happy BDay Hugo!
I never knew so many things about him... thank you :)

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