Victor Hugo
The death of his oldest and favourite daughter, Léopoldine, made Hugo very sad. She died at the age of 19, in 1843. This was only shortly after her marriage. She drowned in the Seine at Villequier. Her heavy skirts pulled her down, when a boat overturned. Her husband died as he tried to save her. At the time; Victor Hugo was travelling with his mistress in the south of France. He learned about Léopoldine's death from a newspaper when he was sitting in a café. He describes his shock and grief in his poem À Villequier: