Ah, no wonder that picture looked like Victor Hugo to me - it is Victor Hugo! And actually it’s a photograph that was taken by Vacquerie. There it is on the left.

On the right is (from left to right) Hugo’s son, Francois and Auguste Vacquerie with Hugo (sitting down).

Auguste’s brother, Charles married Victor Hugo’s daughter, Leopoldine. The couple were both tragically killed in a boating accident on September 4, 1843.

Descendants of the Vacquerie family sold its traditional family home and garden in the town of Villequiers to the Seine Maritime department in 1951, and it was opened to the public in 1959. Check that out on this page.

Auguste Vacquerie died about 10 years after Victor Hugo. His death was reported in the New York Times and mentions that he was Hugo’s literary executor and also one of the guardians of Hugo’s grandchildren, Georges and Jeanne.

Tags: 19th century, hugo