Honoré de Balzac

Honoré de Balzac was a renowned French novelist and playwright, best known for his series of interlinked novels, La Comédie Humaine, which is considered one of the major achievements in 19th-century realist literature. Balzac's works are celebrated for their detailed and unfiltered representation of society, earning him recognition as one of the founders of realism in European literature. His characters are multi-faceted, with even minor characters possessing complexity, moral ambiguity, and a strong sense of humanity. Inanimate objects, particularly the city of Paris, are also imbued with character in Balzac's writing.

Balzac's La Comédie Humaine, a sequence of almost 100 novels and plays, provides a panoramic view of French life in the years following the fall of Napoléon Bonaparte in 1815. His writing has had a significant influence on many famous authors, including Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, and Jack Kerouac, as well as philosophers such as Friedrich Engels. Many of Balzac's works have been adapted into films, and they continue to inspire other writers.

Growing up, Balzac was an avid reader and independent thinker, but he struggled to adapt to the teaching style of his grammar school. His willful nature caused difficulties throughout his life and hindered his business aspirations. After apprenticing in a law office, Balzac rejected the study of law due to its perceived inhumanity and mundane routine. Before and during his writing career, he attempted various professions, including publishing, printing, business, criticism, and politics, but he was unsuccessful in all of them. La Comédie Humaine reflects his personal struggles and experiences.

Balzac faced health issues throughout his life, which may have been exacerbated by his intense writing schedule. His relationships with his family were often strained by financial and personal drama, and he lost friends over critical reviews. In 1850, Balzac married Ewelina Hańska, a Polish aristocrat he had been courting for many years, but he passed away five months later in Paris.