Question: What does the name ‘Les Miserables’ translate as?

Answer: The phrase ‘Les Miserables’ simply translates from French into English as ‘The Miserable Ones’, ‘The Unhappy Ones’, or ‘The Poor Ones’.

The French writer Victor Hugo named his 1862 novel this is due to the quality of the lives and the suffering endured by the stories main characters.

The original novel and subsequent musicals and films based on it were set in France during the early 19th century culminating with the Paris Uprising of 1832.

When being referred to in conversation, Les Miserables is now often abbreviated by English speaking people to just ‘Les Mis’.