Adèle Foucher (27 September 1803 – 27 August 1868) was the wife of French writer

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

, with whom she was acquainted from childhood. Her affair with the critic

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French literary critic. Early life He was born in Boulogne, educated there, and studied medicine at the Collège Charlemagne in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he se ...

became the raw material for Sainte-Beuve's 1834 novel, ''Volupté''. Foucher wrote a biography of her husband, published in 1863.

Early life

Adèle Foucher was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, the daughter of Pierre Foucher, a friend of Victor Hugo's parents. Adèle's brother,

Paul Foucher Paul-Henri Foucher (21 April 1810 – 24 January 1875) was a French playwright, Theatre critic, theatre and Music criticism, music critic, political journalist, and novelist. Biography Early career Foucher was born in Paris and began his career ...

, assisted Hugo by posing as the author of Hugo's play ''

Amy Robsart Amy, Lady Dudley (; 7 June 1532 – 8 September 1560) was the first wife of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, favourite of Elizabeth I of England. She is primarily known for her death by falling do ...

'', which was never published. Paul later produced a successful stage adaptation of Hugo's novel ''Notre-Dame de Paris''. During their courtship, Hugo wrote about 200 love letters to Foucher, most of which have been published. The couple married in a Catholic ceremony on 12 October 1822. Victor's brother, Eugène Hugo, also loved Foucher, and had a mental breakdown when she married Victor. Foucher and Hugo's first child, Léopold, was born in 1823, but died in infancy. Next came a daughter, Léopoldine, born in 1824. Léopoldine's death in 1843, shortly after her marriage, caused great distress to her parents, and inspired many of her father's poems, especially those in ''Contemplations''. Another son,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, was born in 1826, followed by François-Victor in 1828, and another daughter,

Adèle Hugo Adèle Hugo (; 24 August 1830 – 21 April 1915) was the fifth and youngest child of French writer Victor Hugo. She is remembered for developing schizophrenia as a young woman, which led to a romantic obsession with a British military officer wh ...

, in 1830. By this time Hugo had made his reputation as a poet and novelist. It was shortly after her youngest child's birth that Foucher ceased to have sexual relations with her husband. She then began her affair with Hugo's friend Sainte-Beuve, which lasted until around 1837.

Later life

In 1833, Victor Hugo had become involved with

Juliette Drouet Juliette Drouet (), born Julienne Josephine Gauvain (; 10 April 1806 – 11 May 1883), 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 compan ...

, who became his long-term mistress. In response, Foucher gradually ended her relationship with Sainte-Beuve. Although Hugo did consider leaving Foucher at one point, they remained married, and in later life, when living on the island of

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

, a kind of friendship grew up between the wife and the mistress. After a period of political activity in the 1840s, Victor Hugo fell foul of France's new leader,

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

, and he left the country, going first to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and then to the island of Jersey. In October 1855, he found a permanent home at

Hauteville House Hauteville House is a house where Victor Hugo lived during his exile from France, located at 38 Hauteville in St. Peter Port in Guernsey. In March 1927, the centenary year of Romanticism, Hugo's descendants Jeanne, Jean, Marguerite and Franço ...

in St Peter Port, Guernsey, and brought his family to live there with him. While living in Brussels, Foucher bought a greyhound, which after death was stuffed and preserved as an exhibit. Foucher's biography of her husband, ''Victor Hugo raconté par un témoin de sa vie'', was published in 1863, and was notable for excluding any mention of Victor's sexual adventures. Foucher died of a " cerebral congestion" at the age of 64, while staying in Brussels, and was buried at Villequier, near the grave of her daughter Léopoldine; her sons accompanied the body on its journey for burial.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foucher, Adèle 1803 births 1868 deaths 19th-century French women French biographers Hugo family