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Daughter of Victor Hugo From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Léopoldine Cécile Marie-Pierre Catherine Hugo (French pronunciation: [leɔpɔldin sesil maʁi pjɛʁ katʁin yɡo]; 28 August 1824 – 4 September 1843) was the eldest daughter of Victor Hugo and Adèle Foucher.
Léopoldine Hugo | |
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![]() Portrait of Léopoldine Hugo. Painted by Auguste de Châtillon in 1836, on the day of her first communion. | |
Born | Léopoldine Cécile Marie-Pierre Catherine Hugo 28 August 1824 |
Died | 4 September 1843 19) | (aged
Nationality | French |
Spouse |
Charles Vacquerie (m. 1843) |
Parent(s) | Victor Hugo Adèle Foucher |
Léopoldine was born in Paris, the second of five children and eldest daughter of Victor Hugo and Adèle Foucher. She was named after her paternal grandfather, Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo,[1] as was her late brother, Léopold, who died in infancy.
Despite her father's growing anti-clerical views, Léopoldine grew up as a devout Catholic. Her first communion, which took place in September 1836, was a grand affair. Auguste de Châtillon painted a portrait of her for the day, and the mass was attended by Théophile Gautier, Alexandre Dumas, and members of the Hugo family. A banquet was held at her family's Paris residence afterward.[2]
Léopoldine had many suitors for marriage including her future husband, Charles Vacquerie, whom she met while on holiday in 1839.[3]
She married Charles Vacquerie at Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis on 15 February 1843, but they both drowned together only a few months later, when their boat overturned on the Seine in Villequier on 4 September 1843. Nineteen years old and pregnant, she died when her wet, heavy skirts pulled her down, and her husband died trying to save her. This tragic event had a great impact on the work and personality of her father, Victor Hugo. He dedicated numerous poems to the memory of his daughter, notably Demain dès l'aube and À Villequier in Pauca Meae, the fourth book of Les Contemplations. Victor Hugo did not write for several years afterwards owing to the clinical depression he developed following Léopoldine's death.