Honoré de Balzac: Father of French Realism

Honoré de Balzac, born May 20, 1799 in Tours, is celebrated as the father of French realism. He grew up in a bourgeois but emotionally troubled family, studied law in Paris, and at age 20 abandoned jurisprudence for literature. Around 1822 he began a relationship with Countess Laure de Berny, who supported him through early failures. He later married Eva Hanska in 1850, months before his death. Balzac initially wrote popular fiction under pseudonyms like Horace de Saint-Aubin, Lord R'hoone, and Viellerglé, inspired by Walter Scott. His first novel, Les Chouans, was published in 1829, and he contributed to journals such as Revue de Paris, La Caricature, and Revue des deux mondes. In 1833 he signed a contract for a twelve-volume series titled Usi e costumi del diciottesimo secolo, which evolved into his monumental work La Commedia Umana (1834). This cycle aimed to depict French society from the First Empire to the Restoration, blending private and public life with critical realism. Despite literary success, Balzac remained in debt. He traveled to Milan on February 19, 1873, frequenting the Salotto Maffei and meeting Alessandro Manzoni. He died of peritonitis on August 18, 1850, and was buried with a eulogy by Victor Hugo.