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he had so much sex his biographers straight up gave up trying to document all of his sexual partners. he was reported to fuck up to 3-9 times a day. He had a secret sex diary written in code. He had “official” and “unofficial” mistresses. One estimate was that he had ~200 sexual partners in two years. 

Many articles make similar claims to those above. However, much of this information circulates without a clear source, and I have struggled to find reputable/high level sources for some of this information. Therefore, keep in mind that some of this may be exaggerated or potentially unreliable.

Obviously, I cannot account for the sexual of history of every human who has ever lived, but evidence does suggest that Victor Hugo had a… lively sex life.

From Medium: ‘Sex was so involved in Hugo’s daily life that one biographer wrote the following while describing a typical day in Hugo’s life:

“It was not unusual for him to make love to a young prostitute in the morning, an actress before lunch, a courtesan as an aperitif, and then join the also ­indefatigable Juliette for a night of sex.”

[…] Hugo claimed that on the wedding night, he and his wife had sex nine times.’

His encoded sex diary is referenced on Wikipedia, but when I found an English translation of the source, I couldn’t find where in it they were sourcing.

From Wikipedia: ‘He systematically reported his casual affairs using his own code, as Samuel Pepys did, to make sure they would remain secret.’

The source is listed as: 'Hugo, Victor, Choses vues 1870–1885, p. 529, ISBN 2070361411, pp. 371, 521 (n. 1).’

I’ve found Choses Vues here in the original French and here translated into English. If anyone can find anything in here about the encoded sex diary, please let me know!

His 'official mistress’ is likely in reference to Juliette Drouet.

From EBSCO: 'Since 1833, Hugo had maintained a liaison with a beautiful female actor, Juliette Drouet, who for twelve years followed a cloistered existence relieved only by six-week summer holidays with her lover.’

His 'unofficial mistress’ is likely in reference to Léonie d’Aunet Biard.

From The Common Reader: 'Overlapping was a seven-year affair with travel writer and Arctic explorer Léonie d’Aunet Biard, whose husband finally brought a police officer to the Paris hotel and caught them in flagrante.’

I have found articles that circulate the '200’ claim, but none that give a source for the information.

From Medium: 'Not only that but he bedded 200 women in this hotel in just two years.’

The claim that brothels were closed on the day of his funeral is again circulated frequently without claim. The only sourced part of the claim I can find is a second hand report that sex workers had 'draped their gentials in black crepe’.

From The Guardian: ’[…] when Hugo died the brothels of Paris closed down for a day of mourning, allowing all the city’s sex workers to pay their last respects to a loyal client. Literary critic Edmond de Goncourt claimed a police officer told him that sex workers even draped their genitals in black crepe as a mark of respect.’

And an estimated 2 million people attended his funeral procession.

From Funeral Conflicts in Nineteenth-Century France: 'Two million people came to see Hugo’s body lying in state at the Arc de Triomphe’

Thanks to @dodger-chan for adding some new information on the source for the encoded sex diary! Apparently the versions I found were earlier editions, and it is the more complete 1972 edition that is the source.

So I went and found the 1972 edition and have provided the relevant passages here! They do indeed confirm that Victor Hugo wrote in code about his sexual encounters. (It wasn't a separate sex diary, it was all included together.)

A transcription of the original is in the alt text. Here's my translation of the French passages, with the other languages left untouched. Paragraph breaks are my own, added for readability.

Page 371

2 November [1875] Month. Arago. Aristote finished. S. B.¹. No sera el chico hecho. This night, at 5 o'clock, very loud knocks at my bedside. 3 November It's cold. Jeanne entered my room and said to me, "We have vapour in our mouths." 4 November A. viene hoy viernes a seis².

Notes on page 371

Somet1. Note from the Massin edition : The four preceding words relate to Blanche. "S. B." designates Sarah Bernhardt according to Guillemin. "The child will not be made." 2. A. comes Friday today at 6 o'clock. Note on Hugo and women We can consult on this topic two books of importance: A lover of genius [Un amant de génie], by Raymond Escholier. Hugo and sexuality [Hugo et la sexualité], by Henri Guillemin. In the diairies of the years in which we are, the reader will see that Blanche plays a great role, but that she is not alone. It is true that women occupied an important place in the[se] intimate notations: these were rarely true liaisons, but often brief meetings. Such was the case since long ago. For example: the 1859 diary mentions fifteen complaisant women (in various capacities); the 1866 one, twenty… We are used to, at this point of Things Seen, to the vocabulary and secret writing of Victor Hugo. Certain sentences remain enigmatic, others have often simple "keys". As such, when Victor Hugo, speaking of a conquest, notes "Switzerland", which is the land of milk, we must understand: breasts [seins]. He will sometimes write, to designate the same thing: saints, or the torso. [seins and saints are homophones] Pan [poële] means hairs [poils]. But it happens that the writer will inscribe: forest, or Lamotte [for the forest of Lamotte-Beuvron]. Ravine means sex (also said: cavity). For prostitute, it's pr. ou pros. Bell is clearly understood, and Henri Guillemin adds this key which is in Scene I of L'Épée: "ring […] the big bell into motion" [or, alternatively: "shake the big bell into wanking"] Osc. means "osculum", or "to kiss/to fuck" N. is naked. Sprain [entorse] is phonetic: "in torso" [en torse], the torso stripped naked. Victor Hugo conceals — or camouflages — the names of his companions (mainly in the Diaries that we are not publishing) and one of his customary skills is to underline certain letters in phrases or words he writes, as such: Esterhazy. Dazzlement Annals of Schaerbeeck, the delicate erinaced (which would also be: Question delicate Rhinoceros) sick, bed, does not go out the princess of Belgiojoso is fine Eli Sabactani... The names are concealed by worldplay: "plaid of bed", or are metamorphosed into masculin names: "Marriat", "Paul Hinn"...

Some notes because this last section is tricky to translate:

"Éblouissement" literally means dazzlement, and hides the name Louise; if we translate the pun rather than meaning we could go with "Blue easel" or "Blew east"

"rinacé" isn't a word that exists today, and the closest I could find from the time period is "érinacé" from E. Littré's 1873–1874 Dictionary, which means that which resembles a hedgehog, so to keep the wordplay I made up the word "erinaced" from same latin root

"malade, lit, ne sort pas" (sick, bed, does not go out) hides the name Adeline

la princesse de Belgiojoso est fine hides the name Joséphine; it refers to a 19th century Italian noblewoman

Eli Sabactani is from Matthew 27:46

"Natte-à-lit" (lit. plaid of bed) is for Natalie, "Marriat" for Maria, "Paul Hinn" for Pauline...

The documentary includes a brief clip of a 1954 televised newscast about the rise of homosexuality. The host of the program interviewed psychologists, a police officer, and one “known homosexual”. The “known homosexual” is 22 years old. He identifies himself as Curtis White, which is a pseudonym; his name is actually Dale Olson.

So I tracked down the newscast. According to what I can find, Dale Olson may have been the first gay man to appear openly on television and defend his sexual orientation. He explains that there’s nothing wrong with him mentally and he’s never been arrested. When asked whether he’d take a cure if it existed, he says no. When asked whether his family knows he’s gay, he says that they didn’t up until tonight, but he guesses they’re going to find out, and he’ll probably be fired from his job as well. So of course the host is like …why are you doing this interview then? and Dale Olson, cool as cucumber pie, says “I think that this way I can be a little useful to someone besides myself.”

1954. 22 years old. Balls of pure titanium.

Despite the pseudonym, Dale’s boss did indeed recognize him from the TV program, and he was promptly fired the next day. He wrote into ONE magazine six months later to reassure readers that he had gotten a new job at a higher salary.

Curious about what became of him, I looked into his life a little further. It turns out that he ultimately became a very successful publicity agent. He promoted the Rocky movies and Superman. Not only that, but get this: Dale represented Rock Hudson, and he was the person who convinced him to disclose that he had AIDS! He wrote the statement Rock read. And as we know, Rock Hudson’s disclosure had a very significant effect on the national conversation about AIDS in the U.S.

I was thinking about this because I grabbed drinks with a colleague and acquitted myself quite well---asked fun questions, make jokes, talked about books and our educations and mutual colleagues. (Maybe she had a terrible time, but I tried to be my best self so I'm grading for effort...) Only then I went and got dinner with my best friend and college roommate, and suddenly I was not that person. Suddenly I was snarky and a little condescending, I picked fights (cordial fights! but still disagreements) that I didn't need to fight. And heading home afterwards, I realized the shape I'd slipped into: the pricklier, more unsure and therefore more defensive persona that was my armor in college.

It's been over a decade---yet I somehow twisted myself into that shape like no time had gone by at all. Perfect muscle memory of a person I no longer am.

Revertigo, like I said.