Balzac, Honor� de 1799-1850
French novelist

Born in Tours, he was educated at the Coll�ge de Vend�me, and studied law at the Sorbonne, Paris. His father wished him to become a notary, but he left Tours in 1819 to seek his fortune as an author in Paris. His first success was with Le Dernier Chouan in 1829 (Eng trans The Chouans, 1893), followed in the same year by La Peau de chagrin (Eng trans The Magic Skin, 1888). After writing several other novels, he conceived the idea of the Com�die humaine (1842-53, 'The Human Comedy'), a complete picture of modern civilization. Among the masterpieces which form part of Balzac's vast scheme are Le P�re Goriot (1835, Eng trans P�re Goriot, 1886), Illusions perdues (1837-43, 3 vols, Eng trans Lost Illusions, 1893), Les Paysans (1855, completed by his wife, Eng trans Sons of the Soil, 1890), La Femme de trente ans (1831-34, 'The Thirty-year-old Woman') and Eug�nie Grandet (1833, Eng trans 1859). The Contes drolatiques (1832-37, 'Droll Tales'), a series of Rabelaisian stories, stand by themselves. He worked regularly for up to 18 hours a day, and wrote 85 novels in 20 years. However, as a young man he had incurred a heavy burden of debt and his work failed to bring him wealth, which may help account for his obsession with the workings of money in the novels. During his later years he lived principally in his villa at S�vres. In 1850, only three months before his death, he married Eveline Hanska, a rich Polish lady with whom he had corresponded for more than 15 years.

Bibliography: G Robb, Balzac (1994); A Maurois, Prom�th�e, ou La vie de Balzac (1965)