During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. Hugo was at the forefront of the Romantic literary movement with his play Cromwell and drama Hernani. He produced more than 4, drawings in his lifetime, and campaigned for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment and slavery.
Although he was a committed royalist when young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism , serving in politics as both deputy and senator. His work touched upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time.
His opposition to absolutism , and his literary stature, established him as a national hero. Hugo died on 22 May , aged The Hugo family came from Nancy in Lorraine , where Hugo's grandfather was a wood merchant. He was an atheist and an ardent supporter of the Republic. Hugo's mother Sophie was loyal to the deposed dynasty but would declare her children to be Protestants. Since Hugo's father was an officer in Napoleon's army, the family moved frequently from posting to posting.
Hugo later titled himself as a viscount, and it was as "Vicomte Victor Hugo" that he was appointed a peer of France on 13 April Soon, Hugo's father was called to Spain to fight the Peninsular War.
Madame Hugo and her children were sent back to Paris in , where they moved to an old convent, 12 Impasse des Feuillantines , an isolated mansion in a deserted quarter of the left bank of the Seine.
