Claim: Victor Hugo was once a committed royalist.

Victor Marie Hugo -LRB- -LSB- viktɔʁ maʁi yɡo -RSB- ; 26 February 1802 -- 22 May 1885 -RRB- was a French poet , novelist , and dramatist of the Romantic movement . He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers . Outside France , his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables , 1862 , and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame -LRB- Notre-Dame de Paris -RRB- , 1831 . In France , Hugo is known primarily for his poetry collections , such as Les Contemplations -LRB- The Contemplations -RRB- and La Légende des siècles -LRB- The Legend of the Ages -RRB- . He produced more than 4,000 drawings and also campaigned for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment .   Though a committed royalist when he was young , Hugo 's views changed as the decades passed , and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism ; his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time . He is buried in the Panthéon in Paris . His legacy has been honoured in many ways , including his portrait being placed on French currency .