Victor-Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 — 22 May 1885) was a French
poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, visual artist, statesman,
human rights campaigner, and perhaps the most influential exponent
of the Romantic movement in France. In France, Hugo's literary
reputation rests on his poetic and dramatic output. Among many
volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles
stand particularly high in critical esteem, and Hugo is sometimes
identified as the greatest French poet. In the English-speaking
world his best-known works are often the novels Les Misérables and
Notre-Dame de Paris (sometimes translated into English as The
Hunchback of Notre-Dame). Though extremely conservative in his
youth, Hugo moved to the political left as the decades passed; he
became a passionate supporter of republicanism, and his work
touches upon most of the political and social issues and artistic
trends of his time.

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