Hugh Capet \'ka-pot\ (b. c. 938—d. Oct. 14, 996, Paris, Fr.) King of France (987-996), the founder of the Capetian dynasty. The son of a Frankish duke, he inherited vast estates in the regions of Paris and Orleans, which made him one of the most powerful vassals in France and a serious threat to the Carolingian king, Lothar. By 985 Hugh was the ruler of France in all but name, and two years later he was elected king. He immediately crowned his own son to ensure the line of succession, a practice continued until the time of Louis VII. He mediated disputes among French nobles and survived a conspiracy to betray him to Otto III.
Hugh of Saint-Victor (b. 1096—d. Feb. 11, 1141, Paris, Fr.) Scho¬ lastic theologian who began the tradition of mysticism of the school of St.-Victor, Paris. He was influenced by St. Augustine of Hippo and by Dionysius the Areopagite and contributed to the development of natural theology. His theology anticipated some of the works of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Hughes, Charles Evans (b. April 11, 1862, Glens Falls, N.Y., U.S.—d. Aug. 27, 1948, Osterville, Mass.) U.S. jurist and statesman. He became prominent in 1905 as counsel to New York legislative commit¬ tees investigating abuses in the life insurance and utilities industries. His two terms as governor of New York (1906-10) were marked by exten¬ sive reform. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1910 but resigned in 1916 to run as the Republican presidential can¬ didate. After losing the election to Woodrow Wilson in a close race, he returned to his law practice. As secretary of state (1921-25), he planned and chaired the Washington Conference (1921-22). He served as a mem¬ ber of the Hague Tribunal (1926-30) and the Permanent Court of Inter¬ national Justice (1928-30) before being appointed chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1930 by Pres. Herbert Hoover. He led the court through
the great controversies arising out the New Deal legislation of Pres. Frank¬ lin Roosevelt. Although generally favouring the exercise of government power, he spoke for the court in invalidating (in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. U.S.) a principal New Deal statute, and he attacked Roosevelt’s court¬ packing plan (1937). He wrote the opinion sustaining collective bargain¬ ing under the Wagner Act. He served until 1941.
Hughes, Howard (Robard) (b. Dec. 24, 1905, Houston, Texas, U.S.—d. April 5, 1976, in an airplane over southern Texas) U.S. manu¬ facturer, aviator, and movie producer. He left college at age 17 to take control of his late father’s Hughes Tool Company, which owned the patent to an oil-drilling tool; the company would form the future basis for Hugh¬ es’s vast fortune. In the early 1930s he founded Hughes Aircraft Com¬ pany. In 1935 he set a speed record of 352 mph (567 km/hr) in a plane he designed. In 1938 he flew around the world in a record 91 hours. In 1947 he built and piloted the only flight of a wooden eight-engine flying boat unflatteringly nicknamed “the Spruce Goose.” In the 1930s he pro¬ duced several movies in Hollywood, and he owned RKO Pictures in the early 1950s. He held controlling stock in Trans World Airlines but was forced to sell it in 1966 following legal action. After about 1950 he became a famously eccentric recluse, and after his death his forged mem¬ oirs and his several wills became a source of scandal.
Hughes, (James Mercer) Langston (b. Feb. 1, 1902, Joplin, Mo., U.S.—d. May 22, 1967, New York,
N.Y.) U.S. poet and writer. He pub¬ lished the poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” when he was 19, briefly attended Columbia University, and worked on an Africa-bound freighter.
His literary career was launched when Hughes, working as a busboy, presented his poems to Vachel Lind¬ say as he dined. Hughes’s poetry col¬ lections include The Weary Blues (1926) and Montage of a Dream Deferred (1951). His later The Pan¬ ther and the Lash (1967) reflects black anger and militancy. Among his other works are short stories (including “The Ways of White Folks,” 1934), autobiographies, many works for the stage, antholo¬ gies, and translations of poetry by Federico Garcia Lorca and Gabriela Mistral. His well-known comic char¬ acter Jesse B. Semple, called Simple, appeared in his newspaper columns.
Hughes, Sir Samuel (b. Jan. 8, 1853, Darlington, Canada West—d. Aug. 24, 1921, Lindsay, Ont., Can.) Canadian soldier and politician. He was proprietor and editor of an Ontario newspaper from 1885 to 1897. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1892, sitting until 1921, except during the South African War (1899-1902), in which he served as a lieutenant colonel. In 1911 he became Canadian minister of militia and defense. At the start of World War I, he organized, trained, and equipped the Canadian Expeditionary Force for service in Europe. He was knighted in 1915.
Hughes, Ted orig. Edward James Hughes (b. Aug. 16, 1930, Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. Oct. 28, 1998, Devon) British poet. The son of shopkeepers, he studied at Cambridge University. He married the American poet Sylvia Plath in 1956. His first volumes of verse were The Hawk in the Rain (1957) and Lupercal (1960). After Plath’s 1963 suicide he wrote little for three years, then began publishing prolifically, often in collaboration with illustrators or photographers. His collections include Wodwo (1967), Crow (1970), Cave Birds (1975), Gaudete (1977), and Wolf Watching (1989). His most characteristic work emphasizes the cunning and savagery of animal life in harsh, sometimes disjunctive lines. He wrote many volumes for children (including The Iron Man, 1968) and edited the journal Modern Poetry in Translation. In 1984 he became Brit¬ ain’s poet laureate. Birthday Letters (1998), published shortly before his death, consists of revealing poems about his relationship with Plath.
Hugli River or Hooghly River \'hii-gle\ River, northeastern India. The most westerly and commercially the most important arm of the Ganges River, it provides access to Kolkata (Calcutta) from the Bay of
Langston Hughes, photograph by Jack Delano, 1942.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
906 I Hugo ► Hull
Bengal. Formed by the junction of the Bhagirathi and Jalangi rivers, it flows south about 160 miles (260 km) through a heavily industrialized area home to more than half of West Bengal’s population. Above Kolk- ata the river is silted up, but it is navigable to the city by ocean liners. It enters the Bay of Bengal through an estuary 3-20 miles (5-32 km) wide, which is spanned by two bridges.
Hugo, Victor (-Marie) (b. Feb. 26, 1802, Besan^on, France—d. May 22, 1885, Paris) French poet, drama¬ tist, and novelist. The son of a gen¬ eral, he was an accomplished poet before age 20. With his verse drama Cromwell (1827), he emerged as an important figure in Romanticism. The production of his poetic tragedy Her- nani (1830) was a victory for Romantics over traditional classi¬ cists in a well-known literary battle.
His later plays included Le Roi s ’amuse (1832) and Ruy Bias (1838).
His best-known novels are The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831), an evocation of medieval life, and Les Miserables (1862), the story of the convict Jean Valjean; their huge popularity made him at that time the most successful writer in the world.
In later life he was a politician and political writer. He spent the years 1851-70 in exile for his republican views, producing his most extensive and original works, including Les Chatiments (1853), poems of political satire; Les Contemplations (1856); and the first installment of The Leg¬ end of the Centuries (1859, 1877, 1883). He was made a senator in 1876, and he was buried in the Pantheon as a national hero.