Hugo, Ravel and Monnot

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In Nevers in France, we came across references to two very famous people and one that I hadn’t heard of before. A doorway had a plaque saying the building had been the residence of Victor Hugo (1802-18850, a poet, novelist and dramatist, whose works included ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ and ‘Les Miserables’. Within France, he is known primarily for his poetry collections. During his lifetime, he also produced over 4,000 drawings and campaigned for social causes, including the abolition of capital punishment. As a youth he was a committed royalist but later became a passionate supporter of republicanism. He is buried in the Pantheon in Paris and his portrait in on French currency. Another doorway commemorated Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), a composer, pianist and conductor. During the 1920s and 1930s Ravel was an international name in the classical music world and regarded, at the time, as France's greatest living composer. One of his works was ‘Bolero’ which many people would know. And the person that I’d never heard of was Marguerite Monnot (1903 – 1961), a songwriter and composer best known for having written many of the songs performed by Edith Piaf (1915-1963). Piaf was one of France’s most widely known international stars. Among Monnot’s compositions was ‘Milord’ and ‘Hymne a l’amour’. She also wrote the music for the stage musical ‘Irma La Douce’. Monnot was classically trained but poor health ended her career as a concert pianist. She switched to composing popular music and, in 1935, met Edith Piaf. In 1940 they became collaborators as song-writers and remained friends till her death. Edit: After I wrote this I realised the reference to Monnot was in Decize, not Nevers, as Anna kindly pointed out as well. The towns are not too far from each other.