Question: Who wrote the Les Miserables novel and the musical based on it?

Answer: The original Les Miserables novel was written in 1862 by Frenchman Victor Hugo.

In 1980 the lyrics for the musical based on that novel, also in French were written by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel with the music itself written by Claude-Michel Schönberg.

Then in 1985 the musicals French lyrics were adapted into English by the South African-born writer Herbert Kretzmer.

In addition to the many live performances of the Les Mis musical put on throughout the world, there have also been a number of film versions produced too.

The most recent was the 2012 film starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway which despite being a movie, actually featured live singing from the actors.