The Memoirs of Victor Hugo Author:Victor Hugo n an age full of great French writers like Honore Balzac, Gustave Flaubert, Emile Zola, and others, Victor-Marie Hugo (1802 ?1885) may have been the most renowned in his time. Hugo was a poet, playwright, novelist, artist, and human rights activist at the height of the Romantic movement in France. Hugo initially courted fame through his poetry,... more » but now his novels and other lifetime achievements are best known. In particular, Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are read the world over.« less