The Last Day of a Condemned Man

In the death row cell, a man waits for his final day, knowing perfectly well that he has nothing left to hope for. But for now he is still alive. Thinking. Feeling. Remembering…

Victor Hugo, an active opponent of the death penalty, undertook a literary hoax for the sake of higher goals: in 1829 he published a small story, “The Last Day of a Condemned Man,” anonymously, presenting it as the authentic diary of someone sentenced to the highest punishment. This was followed by sensational success—and then, once the author’s name was revealed, an equally unprecedented wave of persecution of Hugo in the press…

Yet the names of the detractors have long been forgotten, and the story remains one of the most powerful works defending a person’s inalienable right to life (even if that person is a criminal).