Victor Hugo was born on February 26, 1802, in Besançon. Already in 1818 he was honored by the academy and appointed as the leader of the French Romanticism. In the beginning, he fought against the religious disbelief in his day. – In 1841, he became a member of the »Académie Française« (the French Academy). Since he had rather republican views, he had to go into exile for 20 years. Not before 1870, he returned to France. On May 22,1855, he died. – »Dieses Vorgebirge des Traums, von dem wir gerade sprechen, liegt in Shakespeare. Es liegt in allen großen Dichtern.« (»These foothills of the dream, about which we currently speak, lies in Shakespeare. It lies in all great poets.«)