Victor Hugo is, without doubt, the most famous figure ever to have lived in the Channel Islands. He is famous worldwide as both a literary and political celebrity and he has succeeded in the difficult task of being both intellectually respectable and at the same time immensely popular, especially through two of his major works, 'Notre Dame de Paris' and 'Les Misérables', which was completed in Guernsey.
The crusade against poverty which Victor Hugo had been leading for a long time was coloured, after 10th March 1862 by a gesture which was not just symbolic: He extended an invitation to dinner to poor local children.
1855
Famous as Victor Hugo’s mistress, most people know little about the woman who devoted the greater part of her life to the famous author.
Juliette Drouet, born Julienne Josephine Gauvain, was a French actress. She abandoned her career on the stage after becoming the mistress of Victor Hugo, to whom she acted as a secretary and travelling companion. Juliette accompanied Hugo in his exile to Guernsey, and wrote thousands of letters to him throughout her life.
