![Duvidal de Montferrier - Abel Hugo (1798-1865)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Duvidal_de_Montferrier_-_Abel_Hugo_%281798-1865%29.jpg)
Abel Joseph Hugo (15 November 1798,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
- 7 February 1855, Paris) was a French military officer,
essayist
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
, and historian. His younger brother was the novelist
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
.
Biography
He was the eldest son of General
Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and his wife, the artist
Sophie Trébuchet. He attended the
Lycée Impérial in Paris. At the age of thirteen, he was the only son of the General who followed him to Spain. There, he entered the school for
pages
Page most commonly refers to:
* Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book
Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to:
Roles
* Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation
* Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...
of
Joseph Bonaparte
it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte
, house = Bonaparte
, father = Carlo Buonaparte
, mother = Letizia Ramolino
, birth_date = 7 January 1768
, birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...
, who was then King of Spain. He would be the only French page at the Spanish Court. While serving in that capacity, he began to practice his writing skills.
He took part in the French retreat of 1812, and served as a
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
.
[Jacques Hantraye, "Abel Hugo, de l’expérience à l’écriture de la guerre", In: ''Hugo et la guerre'', Claude Millet (Ed.), Maisonneuve et Larose, 2003 ] Two years later, the Comte d’Artois (who would later become King
Charles X
Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Loui ...
), made him and his brothers Knights in the
Order of The Lily; in recognition of the role their mother had played in supporting the
Malet Coup. From then until 1818, he worked with the French
General Staff
A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
. In 1819, he helped his brothers Victor and establish ''Le Conservateur littéraire'', a
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
literary magazine. He was mainly responsible for administration and distribution.
In 1827, he married
Louise Rose Julie Duvidal de Montferrier, an artist, who had studied with
Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...
. She was the daughter of , second Marquis de Montferrier. They had two sons; Léopold Armand (1828-1895), a graphic designer, and Joseph Napoléon (1835-1863), a
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
priest. Initially, Victor distrusted her, and warned Abel against marrying her, but later came to hold her in esteem. Upon his father's death, in 1828, he became "Count Hugo".
A strong supporter of
Monarchism
Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
, he abandoned his
Legitimist
The Legitimists (french: Légitimistes) are royalists who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession to the French crown of the descendants of the eldest branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They re ...
positions around 1833; a time that corresponds to the writing of his two major works on
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
and the French military.
In addition to his published works, he contributed to the ''
Revue des deux Mondes
The ''Revue des deux Mondes'' (, ''Review of the Two Worlds'') is a monthly French-language literary, cultural and current affairs magazine that has been published in Paris since 1829.
According to its website, "it is today the place for debates a ...
'', as well as the military periodicals ''Le Spectateur militaire'' and the ''Journal de l’Armée''.
[Michaud, ''Biographie universelle et moderne'', Paris, Desplaplaces, Vol.XX, 1858, entry for Abel Hugo, pp.119-123] From 1835 to 1843, he published three multi-volume histories of France. He was a member of several literary societies.
Selected works
* ''Traité du mélodrame'', with
Armand Malitourne
Pierre-Armand Malitourne (19 July 1796 – 19 April 1866) was a 19th-century French journalist, literary critic and writer.
Biography
After he studied at the college of Alençon, he moved to Paris in 1816. In 1819, he obtained a prize from the ...
and
Jean-Joseph Ader
Jean-Joseph Ader (16 October 1796 – 12 April 1859) was a 19th-century French playwright, writer and historian.
Biography
Ader studied in a seminary of the Basque country and arrived in Paris in 1813 where he studied medicine and law.
He b ...
, Delaunay, Pélicier et Plancher, Paris, 1817
Online
* ''Histoire de la campagne d’Espagne en 1823'', 2 volumes, Paris, Lefuel, 1824 et 1825
Vol.IVol.II
* ''France pittoresque, ou Description pittoresque, topographique et statistique des départements et colonies de la France'', Delloye éditeur, 3 vol., Paris, 1835
Vol.IVol.III
* ''Histoire générale de France, depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu’à nos jours'', H.-L. Delloye, 5 vol. Paris, 1836-1843
Vol.IVol.IIVol.V
* ''France militaire, Histoire des armées françaises de terre et de mer, de 1792 à 1837'', H.-L. Delloye, Paris, 1838
Vol.IIVol.IVVol.V
References
External links
Abel Hugo@ the Roglo genealogical database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hugo, Abel
1798 births
1855 deaths
French military personnel
19th-century French historians
French military historians
French monarchists
Writers from Paris