法国诗人浪漫主义运动的代言人雨果传记

Biography of Victor Hugo, French Writer

Poet, novelist, and voice of the French Romantic Movement

Victor Hugo (February 26, 1802 – May 22, 1885) was a French poet and novelist during the Romantic Movement. Among French readers, Hugo is best known as a poet, but to readers outside of France, he’s best known for his epic novels The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Misérables.雨果（1802年2月26日至1885年5月22日）是法国浪漫主义运动时期的一位诗人和小说家。在法国读者中，雨果最为人熟知的是诗人，但对法国以外的读者来说，他最为著名的是他的史诗小说《圣母院和莱斯米塞勒斯驼背》。

Fast Facts: Victor Hugo

• Full Name: Victor Marie Hugo

• Known For: French poet and author

• Born: February 26, 1802 in Besançon, Doubs, France

• Parents: Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet

• Died: May 22, 1885 in Paris, France

• Spouse: Adèle Foucher (m. 1822-1868)

• Children: Léopold Hugo (1823), Léopoldine Hugo (1824-1843), Charles Hugo (b. 1826), François-Victor Hugo (1828-1873), Adèle Hugo (1830-1915)

• Selected Works: Odes et Ballades (1826), Cromwell (1827), Notre-Dame de Paris (1831), Les Misérables (1862), Quatre-vingt-treize (1874)

• Notable Quote: “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved—loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.”

Early Life

Born in Besançon in Franche-Comté, a region in eastern France, Hugo was the third son born to Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet Hugo. He had two older brothers: Abel Joseph Hugo (born 1798) and Eugène Hugo (born 1800). Hugo’s father was a general in the French army and a fervent supporter of Napoleon. As a result of his military career, the family moved frequently, including stints in Naples and Rome. For the most part, though, he spent his early years in Paris with his mother.雨果出生于法国东部弗朗什科迈的贝桑松，是约瑟夫·莱奥波尔德·西格斯伯特·雨果和索菲·特雷布切特·雨果的第三个儿子。他有两个哥哥：亚伯·约瑟夫·雨果（生于1798年）和尤因·雨果（生于1800年）。雨果的父亲是法国军队的一名将军，也是拿破仑的狂热支持者。由于他的军旅生涯，他的家人经常搬家，包括在那不勒斯和罗马驻扎。不过，在很大程度上，他早年是和母亲在巴黎度过的。

Hugo’s childhood was a time of immense political and military turmoil in France. In 1804, when Hugo was 2 years old, Napoleon was proclaimed emperor of France; a little over a decade later, the monarchy of the House of Bourbon was restored. These tensions were represented in Hugo’s own family: his father was a general with republican beliefs and a supporter of Napoleon, while his mother was Catholic and fervently royalist; her lover (and Hugo’s godfather) General Victor Lahorie was executed for conspiracies against Napoleon. Hugo’s mother was primarily responsible for his upbringing, and as a result, his early education was both intensely religious and strongly biased towards pro-monarchy sentiments.雨果的童年是法国政治和军事动乱的时期。1804年，当雨果2岁时，拿破仑被宣布为法国的皇帝；十几年后，波旁王朝的君主政体恢复了。这些紧张关系在雨果自己的家庭中也有体现：他的父亲是一位有共和信念的将军，是拿破仑的支持者，而他的母亲是天主教徒，狂热的保皇党；她的情人（也是雨果的教父）维克托·拉赫里将军因阴谋反对拿破仑而被处决。雨果的母亲对他的成长负有主要责任，因此，他的早期教育既有强烈的宗教色彩，又有强烈的亲君主主义倾向。

As a young man, Hugo fell in love with Adèle Foucher, his childhood friend. They were well-matched in personality and in age (Foucher was only one year younger than Hugo), but his mother strongly disapproved of their relationship. Because of this, Hugo would not marry anyone else, but would not marry Foucher while his mother was still alive, either. Sophie Hugo died in 1821, and the couple were able to marry the following year, when Hugo was 21. They had their first child, Leopold, in 1823, but he died in infancy. Eventually, they were the parents of four children: two daughters (Leopoldine and Adele) and two sons (Charles and François-Victor).年轻时，雨果爱上了他儿时的朋友阿德勒·福彻。他们的性格和年龄都很相配（福彻只比雨果小一岁），但他的母亲强烈反对他们的关系。正因为如此，雨果不会嫁给其他人，但也不会在母亲还活着的时候嫁给福彻。苏菲·雨果于1821年去世，第二年，雨果21岁，两人得以结婚。他们在1823年生了第一个孩子利奥波德，但他在婴儿时期就去世了。最终，他们有了四个孩子：两个女儿（利奥波丁和阿黛尔）和两个儿子（查尔斯和弗朗索瓦·维克托）。

Early Poetry and Plays (1822-1830)

• Odes et poésies diverses (1822)

• Odes (1823)

• Han d'Islande (1823)

• Nouvelles Odes (1824)

• Bug-Jargal (1826)

• Odes et Ballades (1826)

• Cromwell (1827)

• Le Dernier jour d'un condamné (1829)

• Hernani (1830)

Hugo began writing as a very young man, with his first publication coming in 1822, the same year as his marriage. His first collection of poetry, titled Odes et poésies diverses was published when he was only 20 years old. The poems were so admired for their elegant language and passion that they came to the attention of the king, Louis XVIII, and earned Hugo a royal pension. He also published his first novel, Han d'Islande, in 1823.雨果在很年轻的时候就开始写作了，他的第一次出版是在1822年，也就是他结婚的同一年。他20岁时出版了他的第一本诗集，名为《诗经与诗集》。这些诗因其优美的语言和热情而受到人们的赞赏，以至于引起了国王路易十八的注意，并为雨果赢得了皇家养老金。他还在1823年出版了他的第一部小说《汉德伊斯兰德》。

In these early days—and, indeed, through much of his writing career—Hugo was heavily influenced by one of his predecessors, French writer François-René de Chateaubriand, who was one of the preeminent literary figures in the Romantic Movement and one of France's most visible writers during the early 19th century. As a young man, Hugo vowed to be "Chateaubriand or nothing," and in many ways, he got his wish. Like his hero, Hugo became both an icon of Romanticism and an involved party in politics, which eventually led to his exile from his homeland.在早期，事实上，雨果在他的写作生涯的大部分时间里都深受他的前任法国作家弗朗索瓦·雷内·德·夏多布里安的影响，他是浪漫主义运动中杰出的文学人物之一，也是19世纪初法国最著名的作家之一。作为一个年轻人，雨果发誓要成为“夏多布里昂或什么都不是”，而且在很多方面，他实现了他的愿望。雨果和他的英雄一样，既成为浪漫主义的偶像，又成为政治上的一个党派，最终导致他被流放出祖国。

Although the youthful, spontaneous nature of his early poems put him on the map, Hugo’s later work soon evolved to show off his remarkable skill and craftsmanship. In 1826, he published his second volume of poetry, this one titled Odes et Ballades. This work, in contrast to his more precocious first work, was more technically skillful and contained several well-received ballads and more.尽管雨果早期诗歌的青春、自然的天性使他登上了风口浪尖，但雨果后来的作品很快演变成展示他非凡的技巧和技艺的作品。1826年，他出版了他的第二本诗集，这本书名为《颂歌与民谣》。与他早熟的第一部作品相比，这部作品的技巧更为娴熟，包含了几首广受欢迎的民谣等。

Hugo’s early writings were not solely confined to poetry, though. He became a leader in the Romantic Movement with several plays during this time as well. His plays Cromwell (1827) and Hernani (1830) were at the epicenter of literary debates about the Romantic Movement’s tenets versus the rules of neoclassical writing. Hernani, in particular, sparked intense debate between traditionalists and Romantics; it came to be considered the vanguard of French Romantic drama. Hugo’s first work of prose fiction was also published during this time. Le Dernier jour d'un condamné (The Last Day of a Condemned Man) was published in 1829. Telling the story of a man condemned to death, the short novel was the first appearance of the strong social conscience that Hugo’s later works would be known for.雨果的早期作品不仅仅局限于诗歌。在这段时间里，他通过几部戏剧成为浪漫主义运动的领袖。他的剧作《克伦威尔》（1827年）和《赫纳尼》（1830年）是浪漫主义运动的宗旨与新古典主义写作规则的文学争论的中心。尤其是《赫纳尼》在传统主义者和浪漫主义者之间引发了激烈的争论，它被认为是法国浪漫主义戏剧的先锋。雨果的第一部散文小说作品也在这期间出版。1829年出版了《罪犯的最后一天》。这部短篇小说讲述了一个被判死刑的人的故事，这是雨果后来的作品所具有的强烈的社会良知的第一次出现。

First Novel and Further Writing (1831-1850)

• Notre-Dame de Paris (1831)

• Le roi s'amuse (1832)

• Lucrezia Borgia (1833)

• Marie Tudor (1833)

• Ruy Blas (1838)

• Les Rayons et les Ombres (1840)

• Le Rhin (1842)

• Les Burgraves (1843)

In 1831, Notre-Dame de Paris, known in English as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, was published; it was Hugo’s first full-length novel. It became a huge hit and was quickly translated into other languages for readers across Europe. The novel’s biggest legacy, though, was much more than literary. Its popularity led to a surge of interest in the real Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, which had fallen into disrepair as a result of ongoing neglect.1831年，《巴黎圣母院》（Notre Dame de Paris，英文名为《圣母院的驼背》）出版，这是雨果的第一部长篇小说。它成为一个巨大的热门，并很快被翻译成其他语言的读者遍布欧洲。不过，这部小说最大的遗产远不止文学作品。它的受欢迎导致人们对巴黎真正的圣母院大教堂的兴趣激增，由于长期的忽视，这座教堂已经年久失修。

Because of the stream of tourists who loved the novel and wanted to visit the real cathedral, the city of Paris began a major renovation project in 1844. The renovations and restorations lasted for 20 years and included the replacement of the famous spire; the spire built during this period stood for nearly 200 years, until it was destroyed in the 2019 Notre Dame fire. On a broader scale, the novel led to a renewed interest in pre-Renaissance buildings, which began to be cared for and restored more than they had in the past.由于喜欢这部小说并想参观真正的大教堂的游客络绎不绝，巴黎市于1844年开始了一项重大的修缮工程。修缮和修复工作持续了20年，包括更换著名的塔尖；这一时期修建的尖塔屹立了近200年，直到2019年圣母院大火中被摧毁。在更广泛的范围内，这部小说引起了人们对文艺复兴前建筑的兴趣，这些建筑开始比过去得到更多的照顾和修复。

Hugo’s life during this period was also subject to some immense personal tragedy, which influenced his writing for some time. In 1843, his oldest (and favorite) daughter, Leopoldine, drowned in a boating accident when she was a 19-year-old newlywed. Her husband also died while trying to save her. Hugo wrote "À Villequier,” one of his most famous poems, in mourning for his daughter.雨果在这一时期的生活也经历了一些巨大的个人悲剧，这些悲剧影响了他的创作一段时间。1843年，他最大的（也是最喜欢的）女儿利奥波丁，在19岁新婚时死于划船事故。她的丈夫在试图救她时也死了。雨果写了他的最著名的诗之一“维勒基尔”，为他的女儿哀悼。

During this period, Hugo also spent some time in political life. After three attempts, he was finally elected to the Académie française (a council on French arts and letters) in 1841 and spoke in defense of the Romantic Movement. In 1845, he was raised to the peerage by King Louis Philippe I and spent his career in the Higher Chamber speaking out for issues of social justice—against the death penalty, for freedom of the press. He continued his political career via election to the National Assembly of the Second Republic in 1848, where he broke ranks with his fellow conservatives to denounce widespread poverty and to advocate for universal suffrage, the abolition of the death penalty, and free education for all children. However, his political career came to an abrupt end in 1851, when Napoleon III took over in a coup. Hugo strongly opposed Napoleon III’s reign, calling him a traitor, and as a result, he lived in exile outside of France.在这期间，雨果也在政治生活中度过了一段时间。经过三次尝试，他终于在1841年被选为法国艺术和文学委员会（Académie française，一个法国艺术和文学委员会）的成员，并为浪漫主义运动辩护。1845年，他被国王路易·菲利普一世（King Louis Philippe I）提拔为贵族，并在高级会议厅为反对死刑的社会公正问题和新闻自由发表意见。1848年，他通过在第二共和国国民议会的选举继续他的政治生涯，在那里他与他的保守党同僚们一起谴责普遍的贫困，倡导普选、废除死刑和所有儿童的免费教育。然而，1851年拿破仑三世发动政变，他的政治生涯戛然而止。雨果强烈反对拿破仑三世的统治，称他为叛徒，结果他流亡法国境外。

Writing While in Exile (1851-1874)

• Les Châtiments (1853)

• Les Contemplations (1856

• Les Misérables (1862)

• Les Travailleurs de la Mer (1866)

• L'Homme qui rit (1869)

• Quatre-vingt-treize (Ninety-Three) (1874)

Hugo eventually settled in Guernsey, a small island under British jurisdiction in the English Channel off the French coast of Normandy. Although he did continue to write political content, including several anti-Napoleon pamphlets that were banned in France yet still managed to make an impact, Hugo went back to his roots with poetry. He produced three volumes of poetry: Les Châtiments in 1853, Les Contemplations in 1856, and La Légende des siècles in 1859.雨果最终定居在格恩西岛，这是一个英国管辖的小岛，位于法国诺曼底海岸外的英吉利海峡。尽管雨果确实继续写政治内容，包括几本在法国被禁的反拿破仑小册子，但他还是以诗歌为根基。他创作了三卷诗集：1853年的《沙丁曼茨》，1856年的《沉思》，1859年的《西西里岛》。

For many years, Hugo had planned a novel about social injustices and the misery suffered by the poor. It wasn’t until 1862 that this novel was published: Les Misérables. The novel sprawls over a few decades, interweaving stories of an escaped parolee, a dogged policeman, an abused factory worker, a rebellious young rich man, and more, all leading up to the June Rebellion of 1832, a historical populist uprising that Hugo had witnessed himself. Hugo believed the novel to be the pinnacle of his work, and it became immensely popular among readers almost instantly. However, the critical establishment was much harsher, with almost universally negative reviews. In the end, it was the readers who won out: Les Mis became a genuine phenomenon which remains popular in the modern day, and has been translated into many languages and adapted into several other mediums.多年来，雨果一直在策划一部关于社会不公和穷人所遭受苦难的小说。直到1862年，这部小说才出版：悲惨世界。这部小说绵延数十年，交织着一个越狱的假释犯，一个顽强的警察，一个受虐待的工厂工人，一个叛逆的年轻富人等等的故事，所有这些都导致了1832年6月的叛乱，这是一场历史上的民粹主义起义，雨果亲眼目睹了这场起义。雨果认为这部小说是他作品的巅峰之作，几乎立刻在读者中大受欢迎。然而，她的评论几乎是普遍的负面评论。最终，是读者们赢得了胜利：Les Mis成为一种真正的现象，在现代仍然流行，并被翻译成多种语言，并被改编成其他几种媒介。

In 1866, Hugo published Les Travailleurs de la Mer (The Toilers of the Sea), which pivoted away from the themes of social justice in his previous novel. Instead, it told a quasi-mythic tale about a young man trying to bring home a ship to impress his father, while battling natural forces and a giant sea monster. The book was dedicated to Guernsey, where he lived for 15 years. He also produced two more novels, which returned to more political and social themes. L'Homme Qui Rit (The Man Who Laughs) was published in 1869 and took a critical view of the aristocracy, while Quatre-vingt-treize (Ninety-Three) was published in 1874 and dealt with the Reign of Terror following the French Revolution. By this time, realism and naturalism were coming into vogue, and Hugo’s Romantic style decreased in popularity. Quatre-vingt-treize would be his last novel.1866年，雨果出版了《海中的苦工》，这本书偏离了他前一部小说中的社会正义主题。相反，它讲述了一个类似神话的故事，一个年轻人试图把一艘船带回家给父亲留下深刻印象，同时与自然力和一个巨大的海怪搏斗。这本书是献给格恩西岛的，他在那里生活了15年。他还创作了另外两部小说，这些小说回归了更多的政治和社会主题。《笑的人》出版于1869年，对贵族持批判的观点，而《四人行》出版于1874年，论述了法国大革命后的恐怖统治。到了这个时候，现实主义和自然主义开始流行，雨果的浪漫主义风格不再受欢迎。《四人行》将是他的最后一部小说。

Literary Styles and Themes

Hugo covered a wide variety of literary themes throughout his career, ranging from politically charged content to much more personal writings. In the latter category, he wrote several of his most acclaimed poems about his daughter’s untimely death and his own grief. He expressed his concerns for the welfare of others and of historical institutions, with themes reflecting his own republican beliefs and his anger at injustices and inequality.雨果在他的整个职业生涯中涵盖了各种各样的文学主题，从充满政治色彩的内容到更多的个人作品。在后一类中，他写了几首他最受赞誉的关于他女儿的不合时宜的死亡和他自己的悲伤的诗。他表达了他对他人和历史机构福祉的担忧，主题反映了他自己的共和党信仰以及他对不公正和不平等的愤怒。

Hugo was one of the most notable representatives of romanticism in France, from his prose to his poetry and plays. As such, his works largely embraced Romantic ideals of individualism, intense emotions, and a focus on heroic characters and actions. These ideals can be seen in many of his works, including some of his most notable ones. Sweeping emotion is a hallmark of Hugo’s novels, with language that drops the reader into the intense feelings of passionate, complicated characters. Even his most famous villains—Archdeacon Frollo and Inspector Javert—are permitted inner turmoil and strong feelings. In some cases, in his novels, Hugo’s narrative voice goes into immense detail about specific ideas or places, with intensely descriptive language.雨果是法国浪漫主义的代表人物之一，从他的散文到诗歌和戏剧。因此，他的作品基本上包含了个人主义的浪漫主义理想，强烈的情感，以及对英雄人物和行为的关注。这些理想可以在他的许多作品中看到，包括他最著名的一些作品。强烈的情感是雨果小说的一个特点，它的语言让读者沉浸在激情复杂的人物身上。即使是他最著名的反派大执事弗罗洛和督察沙威也被允许内心的混乱和强烈的感情。在某些情况下，雨果的小说中，他用强烈的描写性语言，对具体的思想或地点进行了大量的细节描写。

Later in his career, Hugo became notable for his focus on themes of justice and suffering. His anti-monarchical views were on display in The Man Who Laughs, which turned a harsh eye on the aristocratic establishment. Most famously, of course, he focused Les Misérables on the plight of the poor and the horrors of injustice, which are depicted both on an individual scale (the journey of Jean Valjean) and a societal one (the June Rebellion). Hugo himself, in the voice of his narrator, describes the book thusly towards the end of the novel: “The book which the reader has before him at this moment is, from one end to the other, in its entirety and details ... a progress from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from falsehood to truth, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from corruption to life; from bestiality to duty, from hell to heaven, from nothingness to God. The starting point: matter, destination: the soul.”在他的职业生涯后期，雨果因其对正义和苦难主题的关注而出名。他的反君主制观点在《笑的人》一书中得以体现，这本书严厉地注视着贵族阶层。当然，最著名的是，他把《悲惨世界》的重点放在穷人的困境和不公正的恐怖上，这些都是在个人层面（冉阿让的旅程）和社会层面（六月起义）来描述的。雨果本人在小说的结尾用叙述者的口吻描述了这本书：“读者此刻面前的这本书，从一头到另一头，完整而详细。。。从恶到善，从不公到正义，从谬误到真理，从黑夜到白天，从欲望到良心，从腐败到生活；从兽性到责任，从地狱到天堂，从虚无到上帝。起点：物质，终点：灵魂。”

Death

Hugo returned to France in 1870, but his life was never quite the same. He suffered a series of personal tragedies: the death of his wife and two sons, the loss of his daughter to an asylum, the death of his mistress, and he suffered a stroke himself. In 1881, he was honored for his contributions to French society; a street in Paris was even renamed for him and bears his name to this day.雨果于1870年回到法国，但他的生活却完全不同。他经历了一系列的个人悲剧：妻子和两个儿子的死亡，女儿被收容所夺走，情妇去世，他自己也中风了。1881年，他因对法国社会的贡献而受到表彰；巴黎的一条街道甚至为他改名，并沿用他的名字至今。

On May 20, 1885, Hugo died of pneumonia at the age of 83. His death sparked mourning across France due to his immense influence and the affection the French held for him. He had requested a quiet funeral but was instead given a state funeral, with over 2 million mourners joining the funeral procession in Paris. He was buried in the Panthéon, in the same crypt as Alexandre Dumas and Émile Zola, and left 50,000 francs to the poor in his will.1885年5月20日，雨果死于肺炎，享年83岁。由于他的巨大影响力和法国人对他的喜爱，他的死引发了全法国的哀悼。他曾要求举行一个安静的葬礼，但却举行了国葬，超过200万哀悼者加入了巴黎的葬礼行列。他被安葬在潘太翁，与亚历山大仲马和埃米尔·佐拉在同一个地窖里，遗嘱中给穷人留下了5万法郎。

Legacy

Victor Hugo is widely considered an icon of French literature and culture, to the point where many French cities have streets or squares named after him. He is, certainly, among the most recognizable French writers, and his works continue to be widely read, studied, and adapted in the modern day. In particular, his novels The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Misérables have had a long and popular life, with multiple adaptations and entry into mainstream popular culture.雨果被广泛认为是法国文学和文化的象征，在法国许多城市都有以他命名的街道或广场。他当然是最知名的法国作家之一，他的作品在现代仍在广泛阅读、研究和改编。特别是他的小说《圣母院和莱斯·米塞拉布尔斯的驼背》经历了漫长而流行的生活，经过多次改编，进入主流大众文化。

Even in his own time, Hugo’s work had influence beyond just literary audiences. His work was a strong influence in the music world, especially given his friendship with composers Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz, and many operas and other musical works were inspired by his writing—a trend which continues into the contemporary world, with the musical version of Les Misérables becoming one of the most popular musicals of all time. Hugo lived through a time of intense upheaval and societal change, and he managed to stand out as one of the most notable figures of a notable time.即使在他那个时代，雨果的作品的影响力也超出了文学观众的范围。他的作品在音乐界产生了巨大的影响，尤其是他与作曲家弗朗茨·李斯特和赫克托·柏辽兹的友谊，许多歌剧和其他音乐作品都受到他的创作的启发，这一趋势一直延续到当代世界，随着音乐版的《悲惨世界》成为有史以来最受欢迎的音乐剧之一。雨果经历了一个剧烈动荡和社会变革的时代，他设法脱颖而出，成为一个值得注意的时代最著名的人物之一。

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