Hugo - Top Ten World Literati

Author: Tong Yiqiu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features:
1. A Wonderful Childhood - The Combination of a Wonderful Father and Mother
Victor Hugo's birthplace was Nancy, France. This surname, derived from the Germanic tribe, was relatively common in the Lorraine region. Therefore, whether the family had any glorious achievements or prominent figures in its history remains uncertain to later generations. We can only trace back to his father, as the nobility of his ancestors had little impact on Victor Hugo, while his father's experiences were directly related to the poet's upbringing.
Victor Hugo's father was named Leopold Sicard Hugo. He was born into a carpenter family. He had thick, dark hair, bulging eyes, and thick, meaty lips. At the age of fifteen, he joined the army and was a robust man, well-suited for military service. On the battlefield, he always placed life and death aside. In one battle, he sustained seventeen wounds. On another occasion, both of his horses died under him. In 1793, at the age of twenty, he was promoted to the rank of adjutant and sent to suppress the rebellion in the Vendée region, which was incited by Royalist factions to oppose the French Revolution.
Leopold, the son of a farmer, had achieved everything he had through the French Revolution and was therefore absolutely loyal to it. To demonstrate his political stance, he always signed his name as "Brutus Hugo, the sans-culottes." Before the French bourgeois Revolution of 1789, nobles wore breeches, and during the revolution, Parisians called themselves "sans-culottes" to show their opposition to the aristocracy. Brutus was a famous Roman military commander.
Although Leopold was deeply loyal to the revolution, his kind nature made him retain compassion even when suppressing his opponents. It is said that the kindness of this young blue officer was also known among the locals. Once, while leading his troops to search for rebels, he passed by a manor and was warmly welcomed by a girl named Sophie Trébuchet.
Sophie Trébuchet was slim, lovely, with large brown eyes and a straight nose. Her face had a slight arrogance, as if she were a Greek statue. She was the daughter of a ship captain and had lost her parents in childhood, raised by her aunt. This aunt was a follower of Voltaire and an extreme Royalist. Like many girls who lost their parents at a young age, Sophie was strong-willed and stubborn, and under her aunt's influence, she was religiously indifferent and chivalrous.
Due to the harsh suppression of the revolutionary government toward the Vendée rebels, Sophie became a passionate supporter of them. As the saying goes, "Destiny connects even the most distant lovers," and their chance encounter seemed to be arranged by the heavens. Despite their political differences, Sophie was not repelled by the young officer, who had gentle eyes and full lips. Leopold was also deeply attracted to this stranger.
In November 1797, Sophie, accompanied by her brother, went to Paris to marry Leopold and register their marriage. At the time, Sophie had no dowry, but Leopold agreed to make his property joint property with his wife without complaint. In his view, "Money is just a fuse that ignites war."
The marriage of Leopold and Sophie was fraught with crises from the beginning. One reason was their incompatible personalities. Leopold Hugo deeply loved his wife, but Sophie found his rough manner and lewd jokes annoying. At the same time, she was exhausted by the intense lust of this man with a neck as thick as an ox.
Political disagreements, which deepened as the French political situation changed, further widened the rift between the couple. In 1798, their first son was born, named Abel Hugo; two years later, they had their second son, Eugene. On February 16, 1802, in the small French city of Besan?on, their family welcomed a third child. Upon hearing that the newborn was another boy, the Hugo couple showed a subtle hint of disappointment. She already had two sons and secretly hoped for a daughter this time. Of course, she did not dream of giving birth to a peacock, as Dante's mother did in Italy. She never imagined that this child would become the renowned literary figure, thinker, and social activist of the 19th century.
Whether it was a boy or a girl, the Hugo couple was not overly concerned. What worried her was the child's frail health: his pale complexion, faint voice, and lifeless eyes. His entire body was barely as long as a dinner knife. She feared he would not survive the night.
As the poet Victor Hugo himself later described it: He was so weak, like a monster, abandoned by all but his loving mother. His neck bent like reeds, and they prepared both a coffin and a cradle. Yet, thanks to his mother's meticulous care, this child, already marked for death, miraculously survived.
The next morning, Colonel Hugo invited the commander of the Besan?on Fortress, General Jacques Détrais, to register the birth at the local office. After the authorities confirmed the child's gender, the commander's wife signed the birth certificate as godmother, while the commander himself, on behalf of Victor Fanny de Laroche (a friend of the Hugo couple in Paris and the child's godfather), completed the formalities. The child's name was composed of the godparents' names and his surname, becoming "Victor Marie Hugo." Later, people usually shortened it to Victor Hugo.
When Victor Hugo grew up and achieved remarkable success, the elderly General Leopold Hugo proudly revealed the following secret: "You were not created on Mount Pindus, but on the highest peak of the Vosges Mountains. You seem to have been deeply influenced by this near-sky-high origin, and your muse is always lofty."
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