Honoré de Balzac

Honoré de Balzac is a major writer of the 19th century. A master of the French novel and a leading figure in rigorous writing, he is credited with a realistic, visionary style that provokes philosophical reflection. In addition to his prolific literary output, he wrote newspaper articles and edited two magazines.

He took a keen interest in the human species, and this passion for man gave rise to one of the most imposing works of fiction of all time: La Comédie humaine, a collection of over 90 works (novels, short stories, tales and essays) that paints an immense fresco of the society of the novelist's time.

• 1799: Honoré de Balzac is born in Tours on May 20.
• 1820 to 1825: He writes several early novels under various pseudonyms, including Lord R'Hoone and Horace de Saint-Aubin.
• 1825: Balzac enters the publishing business, but the two magazines he runs go bankrupt, ruining him.
• 1829: With The Chouans and The Physiology of Marriage, Balzac begins to make a name for himself as an author, and develops important contacts in the literary world.
• 1831: The publication of The Magic Skin, a fantasy novel, brings Balzac fame.
• 1833: He conceives the ambitious project of La Comédie humaine (which Balzac describes as a painting of society), a great cycle of novels (over 90) recounting the adventures of a series of characters linked by blood or friendship, written over several years (until 1850).
• 1834: The novel Eugénie Grandet, a study of the evolution of different characters over time, is published.
• 1835: The novel Old Goriot, first published in the Revue de Paris, appears.
• 1842: A first edition of La Comédie humaine is published; from then on, the work is constantly enriched.
• 1850: On August 18, at the age of 51, Honoré de Balzac died in Paris.