Jean Valjean is a fictional character and the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables. Hugo depicts the character's 19-year-long struggle to lead a normal life after serving a prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his sister's children during a time of economic depression and various attempts to escape from prison. Valjean is also known in the novel as Monsieur Madeleine, Ultime Fauchelevent, Monsieur Leblanc, and Urbain Fabre; the libretto mentions he is Prisoner 24601. Unlike the others, Monsieur Leblanc is not an alias that Valjean uses but a nickname given to him by Marius because of his white hair.