tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8955844379699946887.post2017093516658557826..comments2024-03-13T16:33:53.563+00:00Comments on <b>Dr Tony Shaw</b><br>: Émilie de Putron in Foulon Cemetery, GuernseyDr Tony Shawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565448709541046337noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8955844379699946887.post-49743757670915802122017-05-27T21:11:53.253+01:002017-05-27T21:11:53.253+01:00Hi Tony, thanks for flagging up this important par...Hi Tony, thanks for flagging up this important part of Guernsey history. Emilie, a throroughly Guernsey girl, and François-Victor Hugo had been 'courting' for nine years. She was a well educated and bookish girl who helped him with his magisterial translation of Shakespeare into French. She died of tuberculosis, and he left the island with his mother the day before her funeral. Emily's parents, Matthew and Martha de Putron, had asked VH to deliver an oration in memoriam to her at her funeral. VH stepped out of the crowd and delivered one of his most beautiful and poignant speeches, which became celebrated for its allusions to the survival of the soul. He sent a copy of the speech to his son, by then in Brussels and promised him that it would be engraved on the stone, as he had promised her parents. VH visited the grave every 14 January and sent a handful of grass from it to François-Victor, as there were no wildflowers to pick. Juliette Drouet continued to dine with Emilie's parents every week; they had become Hugo family friends; François-Victor asked his father to thank her for looking after the family who, he said, had treated him virtually like an adopted son for nine years.<br />On behalf of The Victor Hugo in Guernsey Society I can say am very pleased to read that you found our map useful. We are intending if we can raise the funds to completely restore the stone. Hugo's funeral oration for Emilie was published in Actes et Paroles and can be found here https://www.atramenta.net/lire/oeuvre5658-chapitre-62.html. Please do pop in to the Priaulx Library and say hello next time you come to Guernsey.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com