Paris: The Paris police spied on France’s greatest writers and poets of the 19th century and kept voluminous files on them.
The files portray Victor Hugo as a miser, the young poet Arthur Rimbaud as "a monstrosity" and Paul Verlaine as "a worthless human being", news agency AFP reported on Monday.
Bruno Fuligni, who works for the French parliament and has compiled the files into a book, says that the police snooped on the literary giants with vigour and thoroughness.
Fuligni's book The Writers' Police says police found Hugo, the writer of Les Miserables, was blackmailed by a mistress.
Hugo is described in the files as "someone who exploits democracy" and was obsessed by money.
Police began spying on Rimbaud when he was 15 and found that he was very talented
The files continue well into the 20th century, and include a 1937 report on Andre Breton, a founder of the surrealist movement, who is described as "conducting anti-national activities."
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