Victor Hugo
François-René de Chateaubriand, the famous Romantic writer, influenced Hugo during the early 1800s. When Hugo was young, he said he would be Chateaubriand ou rien (“Chateaubriand or nothing”). Many things Chateaubriand did, Hugo copied. First, he defended the cause of Romanticism. Then, he became involved in politics and supported Republicanism. Finally, he was forced into exile because of his political views. Hugo's passion and eloquence in his early work made him successful and famous at an early age. His first collection of poetry (Odes et poésies diverses) was published in 1822. At the time, Hugo was only twenty years old. It earned him a royal pension (money from the king) from Louis XVIII. His poems were admired but it was his next collection, four years later in 1826 (Odes et Ballades) which revealed Hugo to be a great poet.