Balzac didn’t have 30 years when he arrived at Fougères in September, in 1828. He stays with Gilbert de Pommereul, the son of a friend of his father. From his window he can see the landscape until the hill of Pellerine in the Mayenne. He visits the castle, Saint-Sulpice and Saint-Léonard churches. He loved walking in the “Place aux Arbes”. He also visits Marigny at Saint-Germain in Coglès. During his stay in the city, he accumulates the materials that make possible to write “Le dernier Chouan ou la Bretagne in 1800”. Published in 1829, this novel more known as “Le Chouans”, will be the first of the Human Comedy. The writer has even the idea of applying to the title of deputy of the region of Fougères. Only his friend Gilbert de Pommereul will stop him.    

Victor Hugo and his mistress Juliet Drouet visited Fougères in June 1836, during an excursion in Brittany. While wandering round the town, the writer made a few sketches: the castle seen from what is now the public garden, the remaining town gate, “Notre Dame gate”, one of the towers of the castle that he re-named « La Tourgue » and one of the gargoyles of St. Léonard church. The town inspired his novel " Quatre-vingt-treize ", published in 1874. One of the main characters in the novel bears Juliette’s real surname: Gauvain.

Juliette Gauvain was born in Fougères in April 1806. Her father was a counter-revolutionary. She lost both parents at an early age and was sent to a convent boarding school in Paris. She became an actress, using the stage name Drouet, after the uncle who had brought her up. Then, she became the mistress of the sculptor James Pradier, who used her as a model to personify the town of Strasbourg, on the Place de la Concorde in Paris. In 1831, while playing the part of Princess Négroni in "Lucrèce Borgia ", she met Victor Hugo. She became his mistress, his muse and source of inspiration. In 1852, when Hugo was exiled from France for political reasons, she accompanied him to Guernesey. She wrote him thousands of letters, some of which are kept in the public library in Fougères. Here is one of them.

 " 30th January, Saturday evening 9pm (1835 or 1836)

“ My poor little Toto, you didn’t come back .You must have been engaged in a long, tedious conversation which bored you. I would have liked to see you to find out how you are. I would like you to be with me so that I could caress you and take care of you properly”.

This writer was born in Fougères in 1890. He was the son of a cobbler and had little choice but to become a factory worker. He studied on his own for his baccalaureate and in 1911, was accepted at the Ecole Normale Supérieure. During the first World War, he was wounded. He became a teacher, then started writing. During the second World War, he took an active part in « intellectual resistance » After the war, he was named director of “Mouvements de Jeunesse et de Culture Populaire.” (youth movements and culture). In 1962, he became a member of the French Academy. He was editor in chief of the review “Revue Europe » (1929-1936) then of the newspaper « Vendredi » (1935-1938), chronicler in the “Figaro” (1944-1977), for “Le Monde” (1977-1978). In his books "Le Journal d’un Homme de 40 ans" (1934) and "Changer la Vie" (1961), Jean Guéhenno speaks about his youth in Fougères.

Jean Baston de La Riboisière, was at La Fère Artillery School at the same time as Bonaparte. He became a baron of the empire, general inspector of the artillery and played a decisive part in the battles of Austerlitz, Iéna, Wagram, Eylau, Dantzig, Smolensk and Moskova, where one of his sons was killed. Lariboisière himself died shortly after at Königsberg, in Prussia. The general was buried in Les Invalides but his heart lies in the Monthorin in Louvigné du Désert Castle.

Georges Franju was born in Paris in 1912 but left from Paris in his teens. Deeply interested in the cinema, he started his career in poster design before founding the cinemathèque française, or national film library, with Henri Langlois. From 1958, he produced many films including “La Tête Contre les Murs”, “Thérèse Desqueroux”, « Les Yeux sans Visage » and « Judex ». He died in 1987.