Honore de Balzac biography summary. Life and work of Honore de Balzac, biography

It is difficult to find a person as versatile as this writer was. He combined talent, irrepressible temperament and love of life. In his life, great ideas and accomplishments were combined with petty ambition. Excellent knowledge of highly specialized areas allowed him to boldly and reasonably talk about many problems of psychology, medicine and anthropology.

The life of any person is the addition of many patterns. The life of Honore de Balzac will not be an exception.

Short biography of Honore de Balzac

The writer's father was Bernard Francois Balssa, born into a poor family of peasants. He was born on June 22, 1746 in the village of Nugueire in the Tarn department. There were 11 children in his family, of which he was the eldest. The family of Bernard Balss predicted a spiritual career for him. However, the young man, who had an outstanding mind, love of life and activity, did not want to part with the temptations of life, and wearing a cassock was not at all part of his plans. The life credo of this person is health. Bernard Balssa had no doubt that he would live to be a hundred years old, he enjoyed the country air and amuse himself with love affairs until old age. This man was eccentric. He became rich thanks to the French Revolution, selling and buying the confiscated lands of the nobles. He later became assistant to the mayor of the French city of Tours. Bernard Balsa changed his last name, thinking it was plebeian. In the 1830s, his son Honore would also change his surname by adding the noble particle “de” to it, he would justify this act with the version of his noble origin from the Balzac d'Entrague family.

At fifty, Balzac's father married a girl from the Salambier family, receiving with her a decent dowry. She was younger than her fiancé by as much as 32 years and had a penchant for romance and hysteria. Even after his marriage, the writer's father led a very free lifestyle. Honore's mother was a sensitive and intelligent woman. Despite her penchant for mysticism and resentment against the whole wide world, she, like her husband, did not disdain novels on the side. She loved her illegitimate children more than her first-born Honore. She constantly demanded obedience, complained about non-existent diseases and grumbled. This poisoned Honore's childhood and was reflected in his behavior, affections and creativity. But a great blow for him was also the execution of his uncle, his father's brother, for killing a pregnant peasant woman. It was after this shock that the writer changed his last name in the hope of getting away from such a relationship. But his belonging to the family of nobles has not yet been proven.

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Childhood years of the writer. Education

The childhood years of the writer passed outside the parental home. Until the age of three, he was taken care of by a nurse, and after that he lived in a boarding house. After that, he ended up at the Vendôme College of the Oratorian Fathers (he stayed there from 1807 to 1813). The time he spent within the walls of the college is colored with bitterness in the writer's memory. Honoré experienced a severe mental trauma of the writer due to the total absence of any freedom, drill and corporal punishment.

The only consolation at this time for Honore is books. The librarian of the Higher Polytechnic School, who taught him mathematics, allowed him to use them unlimitedly. For Balzac, reading supplanted real life. Due to being immersed in dreams, he often did not hear what was happening in the classroom, for which he was punished.

Once Honore was subjected to such a punishment as "wooden pants". Stocks were put on him, because of which he acquired a nervous breakdown. After that, the parents returned their son home. He began to wander like a somnambulist, slowly answering some questions, it was difficult for him to return to real life.

It is still not clear whether Balzac was treated at this time, but Jean-Baptiste Naccard observed his entire family, including Honore. Later, he became not only a friend of the family, but especially a friend of the writer.

From 1816 to 1819, Honore studied at the Paris School of Law. His father predicted the future of a lawyer for him, but the young man studied without enthusiasm. After graduating from an educational institution without obvious success, Balzac began working as a clerk in the office of a Parisian lawyer, but this did not fascinate him.

Later life of Balzac

Honore decided to become a writer. He asked his parents for financial help for his dream. The family council decided to help my son for 2 years. Honoré's mother was initially opposed to this, but was soon the first to realize the hopelessness of trying to contradict her son. As a result, Honore began his work. He wrote the drama Cromwell. The work read at the family council was declared useless. Honoré was denied further material support.

After this failure, Balzac began a difficult period. He performed "daily work", he wrote novels for others. It is still unknown how many such works and under whose name he created.

Balzac's writing career begins in 1820. Then, under a pseudonym, he releases action-packed novels and writes "codes" of secular behavior. One of his pseudonyms is Horace de Saint-Aubin.

The writer's anonymity ended in 1829. It was then that he published the novel Chouans, or Brittany in 1799. Works began to be published under his own name.

Balzac had his own rather rigid and very peculiar daily routine. The writer went to bed no later than 6-7 pm and got up for work at one in the morning. The work lasted until 8 am. After that, Honoré went to bed again for an hour and a half, followed by breakfast and coffee. After that, he stayed at the desk until four o'clock in the afternoon. Then the writer took a bath and again sat down to work.

The difference between the writer and his father was that he did not think to live long. Honore treated his own health with great frivolity. He had problems with his teeth, but he did not go to the doctors.

The year 1832 became critical for Balzac. He was already famous. Novels were created that brought him popularity. Publishers are generous and pay advances for unfinished works. The more unexpected was the writer's illness, the origins of which probably come from childhood. Honore develops verbal disorders, auditory and even visual hallucinations began to appear. The writer has a symptom of paraphasia (incorrect pronunciation of sounds or replacement of words with similar ones in sound and meaning).

Paris began to be filled with rumors about the strange behavior of the writer, about the incoherence of his speech and incomprehensible thoughtfulness. In an attempt to stop this, Balzac goes to Sasha, where he lives with old acquaintances.

Despite his illness, Balzac retained his intellect, thought and consciousness. His illness did not affect the personality itself.

Soon the writer began to feel better, confidence returned to him. Balzac returned to Paris. The writer again began to drink a huge amount of coffee, using it as a dope. For four years, Balzac had physical and mental health.

During a walk on June 26, 1836, the writer felt dizzy, unsteady and unsteady in his gait, blood rushed to his head. Balzac fell unconscious. The fainting spell was not long, the next day the writer felt only some weakness. After this incident, Balzac often complained of pain in his head.

This syncope was a confirmation of hypertension. For the next year, Balsa worked with his feet in a bowl of mustard water. Dr. Nakkar gave the writer recommendations that he did not follow.

After finishing another work, the writer returned to society. He tried to regain lost acquaintances and connections. Biographers say that he made a strange impression, being dressed out of fashion and with unwashed hair. But as soon as he joined the conversation, how those around him turned their eyes to him, ceasing to notice the oddities of appearance. No one was indifferent to his knowledge, intellect and talent.

The following years, the writer complained of shortness of breath and anxiety. Balzac had rales in his lungs. In the 1940s, the writer suffered from jaundice. After that, he began to experience twitching of the eyelids and stomach cramps. In 1846 there was a relapse of this disease. Balzac had a memory impairment, there were complications in communication. Forgetting nouns and names of objects has become frequent. From the late 40s, Balzac suffered from diseases of the internal organs. The writer suffered from the Moldavian fever. He was ill for about 2 months, and having recovered, he returned to Paris.

In 1849, heart weakness began to increase, shortness of breath appeared. He began to suffer from bronchitis. Due to hypertension, retinal detachment began. There was a short-term improvement, which was again replaced by deterioration. Hypertrophy of the heart and edema began to develop, fluid appeared in the abdominal cavity. Soon, gangrene and periodic delirium joined everything. He was visited by friends, including Victor Hugo, who left very tragic notes.

The writer died in agony in the arms of his mother. Balzac's death occurred on the night of August 18-19, 1850.

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Writer's personal life

Balzac was very timid and clumsy by nature. And he felt timid even when a pretty young lady approached him. Next to him lived the de Bernie family, who occupied a higher position. The writer had a passion for Laura de Berni. She was 42 years old and had 9 children, while Balzac had just crossed the line of 20 years. the lady did not immediately surrender to Honore, but was one of his first women. She revealed to him the secrets of a woman's heart and all the delights of love.

His other Laura was the Duchess d'Abrantes. She appeared in the fate of the writer a year after Madame de Berni. She was an aristocrat inaccessible to Balzac, but she fell before him after 8 months.

Few ladies were able to resist Honore. But such a highly moral woman was found. Her name was Zulma Carro. It was the Versailles friend of his sister Laura de Surville. Honore had a passion for her, but she had only maternal tenderness for him. The woman said firmly that they could only be friends.

In 1831 he received an anonymous letter, which turned out to be from the Marquise de Castries aged 35. the writer was fascinated by her title. She refused to become the writer's mistress, but was a charming coquette.

On February 28, 1832, he will receive a letter mysteriously signed "Outlander". It turned out to be sent by Evelina Ganskaya, nee Rzhevusskaya. She was young, beautiful, rich and married to an old man. Honore confessed his love to her in the 3rd letter. Their first meeting was in October 1833. After that, they parted for 7 years. after the death of Evelina's husband, Balzac thought about marrying her.

But their marriage took place only in 1850, when the writer was already mortally sick. There were no invitees. After the newlyweds arrived in Paris, and on August 19 Honore died. The death of the writer was accompanied by the obscenity of his wife. There is a version that in his last hours she was in the arms of Jean Gigou, an artist. But not all biographers trust this. Later, Evelina became the wife of this artist.

The work of Honore de Balzac and the most famous works (list)

Chouans, published in 1829, was the first independent novel. Fame also brought him published next "Physiology of marriage". The following were created:

1830 - "Gobsek";

1833 - "Eugenia Grande";

1834 - "Godis-sar";

· 1835 - "Forgiven Melmoth";

· 1836 - "Lust of the atheist";

1837 - "Museum of Antiquities";

· 1839 - "Pierre Grasse" and many others.

This also includes "Naughty Stories". The real fame to the writer was brought by "Shagreen leather".

Throughout his life, Balzac wrote his main work, the "picture of manners", called "The Human Comedy". Its composition:

· "Etudes on Morals" (dedicated to social phenomena);

· “Philosophical studies” (play of feelings, their movement and life);

· "Analytical etudes" (about morals).

Writer innovation

Balzac moved away from the novel personality of the historical novel. His desire is to designate an "individualized type". The central figure of his works is bourgeois society, not the individual. He describes the life of estates, social phenomena, society. The line of works is in the victory of the bourgeoisie over the aristocracy and the weakening of morality.

Quotes by Honore de Balzac

Shagreen Skin: "He realized what a secret and unforgivable crime he committed against them: he eluded the power of mediocrity."

· "Eugenia Grande": "True love is gifted with foresight and knows that love causes love."

· "Shuans": "In order to forgive insults, you need to remember them."

· “Lily of the Valley”: “People are more likely to forgive a blow received in secret than an insult inflicted in public.”

Balzac's life was not ordinary, nor was his mind. The works of this writer conquered the whole world. And his biography is as interesting as his novels.

The father of the future writer was a peasant from Languedoc, who managed to make a career during the French bourgeois revolution and get rich. The mother was much younger than her father (she even outlived her son) and also came from a wealthy family of a Parisian cloth merchant.

The surname Balzac was taken by the father of the future writer after the revolution, the real family name was the surname Balsa.

Education

The writer's father, who became an assistant to the mayor of Tours, dreamed of making his son a lawyer. He gave it first to the College of Vendôme, and then to the Paris School of Law.

Honoré did not like it at once at the Vendôme College. He studied poorly and could not establish contact with teachers. Contact with the family during studies was prohibited, and living conditions were excessively harsh. At the age of 14, Honoré fell seriously ill and was sent home. He never returned to college, graduating in absentia.

Even before his illness, Honore became interested in literature. He avidly read the works of Rousseau, Montesquieu, Holbach. Even after entering the Paris School of Law, Honore did not give up his dream of becoming a writer.

Early work

From 1823 Balzac began to write. His first novels were written in the spirit of romanticism. The author himself considered them unsuccessful and tried not to remember them.

From 1825 to 1828 Balzac tried publishing but failed.

Success

According to a short biography of Honore de Balzac, the writer was a real workaholic. He worked 15 hours a day and published 5-6 novels a year. Gradually, fame began to come to him.

Balzac wrote about what surrounded him: about the life of Paris and the French provinces, about the life of the poor and aristocrats. His novels were rather philosophical short stories, revealing the full depth of the social contradictions that existed then in France and the severity of social problems. Gradually, Balzac combined all the novels he wrote into one big cycle, which he called "The Human Comedy". The cycle is divided into three parts: “Etudes on Morals” (this part, for example, included the novel “The Shine and Poverty of Courtesans”), “Philosophical Studies” (this included the novel “Shagreen Skin”), “Analytical Studies” (this part the author included partly autobiographical works, such as, for example, "Louis Lambert").

In 1845, Balzac was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor.

Personal life

The writer's personal life did not develop until he entered into correspondence (at first anonymously) with the Polish aristocratic Countess Evelina Hanska. She was married to a very wealthy landowner who had large land holdings in Ukraine.

A feeling flared up between Balzac and the Countess of Ghana, but even after the death of her husband, she did not dare to become the writer's legal wife, as she was afraid of losing her husband's inheritance, which she wanted to pass on to her only daughter.

Writer's death

Only in 1850, Balzac, who, by the way, stayed with his beloved for a long time, visiting Kyiv, Vinnitsa, Chernigov and other cities of Ukraine with her, and Evelina were able to officially get married. But their happiness was short-lived, because immediately upon returning to his homeland, the writer fell ill and died of gangrene, which developed against the background of pathological vascular arthritis.

The writer was buried with all possible honors. It is known that his coffin was carried in turn during the funeral by all the prominent literati of France of the time, including Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo.

Other biography options

• Balzac became very popular in Russia during his lifetime, although the authorities were wary of the writer's work. Despite this, he was allowed to enter Russia. The writer visited St. Petersburg and Moscow several times: in 1837, 1843, 1848-1850. He was received very warmly. At one of these meetings between the writer and readers, the young F. Dostoevsky was present, who, after a conversation with the writer, decided to translate the novel "Eugene Grande" into Russian. It was the first literary translation and the first publication made by the future classic of Russian literature.
• Balzac loved coffee. He drank about 50 cups of coffee a day.

Honoré de Balzac - famous French novelist, born May 20, 1799 in Tours, died August 18, 1850 in Paris. For five years he was sent to an elementary school in Tours, and at the age of 7 he entered the Jesuit College of Vendôme, where he stayed for 7 years. In 1814, Balzac moved with his parents to Paris, where he completed his education - first in private boarding schools, and then in Sorbonne where he enthusiastically listened to lectures Gizo, Cousin, Willeman. At the same time, he was studying law to please his father, who wanted to make him a notary.

Honore de Balzac. Daguerreotype 1842

Balzac's first literary experience was the tragedy in verse "Cromwell", which cost him a lot of work, but turned out to be worthless. After this first failure, he abandoned tragedy and turned to romance. Motivated by material need, he began to write one after another very bad novels, which he sold for several hundred francs to various publishers. Such work because of a piece of bread was extremely burdensome for him. The desire to get out of poverty as soon as possible involved him in several commercial enterprises that ended in complete ruin for him. He had to liquidate the business, taking on more than 50,000 francs of debt (1828). Subsequently, thanks to new loans to pay interest and other financial losses, the amount of his debts increased with various fluctuations, and he languished under their burden all his life; only shortly before his death did he finally manage to get rid of his debts. In the early 1820s, Balzac met and became close friends with Madame de Berny. This woman was the good genius of his youth in the most difficult years of struggle, deprivation and uncertainty. By his own admission, she had a huge influence both on his character and on the development of his talent.

Balzac's first novel, which was a resounding success and put him forward among other novice writers, was The Physiology of Marriage (1829). Since then, his fame has been growing continuously. His fertility and tireless energy are truly amazing. In the same year, he published 4 more novels, the next - 11 ("Thirty-year-old Woman"; "Gobsek", "Shagreen Skin", etc.); in 1831 - 8, including the "Country Doctor". Now he works even more than before, with extraordinary care he finished his works, several times redoing what he had written.

Geniuses and villains. Honore de Balzac

Balzac was more than once tempted by the role of a politician. In his political views, he was strict legitimist. In 1832, he put forward his candidacy for deputies in Angouleme and on this occasion expressed the following program in one private letter: “The destruction of all nobility, with the exception of the chamber of peers; separation of the clergy from Rome; the natural frontiers of France; complete equality of the middle class; recognition of true superiority; cost savings; increasing revenues through better distribution of taxes; education for all".

Having failed in the elections, he took up literature with new zeal. 1832 11 new novels were published, among other things: "Louis Lambert", "Abandoned Woman", "Colonel Chabert". At the beginning of 1833, Balzac entered into a correspondence with Countess Hanska. From this correspondence arose a romance that lasted 17 years and ended in marriage a few months before the death of the novelist. A monument to this novel is the voluminous volume of Balzac's letters to Mrs. Ganskaya, later published under the title Letters to a Stranger. During these 17 years, Balzac continued to work tirelessly, and in addition to novels, he wrote various articles in magazines. In 1835 he began publishing the Paris Chronicle himself; this edition lasted for a little over a year and as a result brought him 50,000 francs of a net deficit.

From 1833 to 1838 inclusive, Balzac published 26 stories and novels, among them "Eugenia Grande", "Father Goriot", "Seraphite", "Lily of the Valley", "Lost Illusions", "Caesar Biroto". In 1838 he again left Paris for a few months, this time for a commercial purpose. He dreams of a brilliant enterprise that can immediately enrich him; he goes to Sardinia, where he is going to exploit the silver mines, known since the days of Roman rule. This venture ends in failure, as a more dexterous businessman took advantage of his idea and interrupted his path.

Until 1843, Balzac lived almost without a break in Paris, or in his estate Les Jardies, near Paris, which he bought in 1839 and turned into a new source of constant expenses for him. In August 1843, Balzac went to St. Petersburg for 2 months, where Mrs. Ganskaya was at that time (her husband owned vast estates in Ukraine). In 1845 and 1846 he twice traveled to Italy, where she spent the winter with her daughter. Urgent work and various urgent obligations forced him to return to Paris and all his efforts were aimed at finally paying off his debts and arranging his affairs, without which he could not fulfill his cherished dream of his life - to marry his beloved woman. To a certain extent, he succeeded. Balzac spent the winter of 1847 - 1848 in Russia, at the estate of Countess Hanskaya near Berdichev, but a few days before the February Revolution, money matters called him to Paris. However, he remained completely alien to the political movement and in the autumn of 1848 he again went to Russia.

In 1849 - 1847, 28 new novels by Balzac appeared in print (Ursula Mirue, The Country Priest, Poor Relatives, Cousin Pons, etc.). Since 1848, he has been working little and publishing almost nothing new. The second trip to Russia turned out to be fatal for him. His body was exhausted by “excessive work; this was joined by a cold that fell on the heart and lungs and turned into a long drawn-out illness. The harsh climate also had a detrimental effect on him and interfered with his recovery. This state, with temporary improvements, dragged on until the spring of 1850. On March 14, the marriage of Countess Ganskaya with Balzac finally took place in Berdichev. In April, the couple left Russia and went to Paris, where they settled in a small hotel bought by Balzac a few years before and decorated with artistic luxury. The health of the novelist, however, was deteriorating, and finally, on August 18, 1850, after a severe 34-hour agony, he died.

The significance of Balzac in literature is very great: he expanded the scope of the novel and, being one of the main founders realistic and naturalistic trends, showed him new paths, along which in many ways he went until the beginning of the 20th century. His basic view is purely naturalistic: he looks at every phenomenon as the result and interaction of certain conditions, a known environment. According to this, Balzac's novels are not only an image of individual characters, but also a picture of the entire modern society with the main forces that govern it: the general pursuit of the blessings of life, the thirst for profit, honors, position in the world, with all the various struggles of large and small passions. At the same time, he reveals to the reader the entire behind-the-scenes side of this movement in the smallest detail, in its everyday life, which gives his books the character of burning reality. When describing characters, he highlights one main, predominant feature. According to Fai, for Balzac every person is nothing more than "some kind of passion, which is served by the mind and organs and which is counteracted by circumstances." Thanks to this, his heroes receive extraordinary relief and brightness, and many of them have become household names, like the heroes of Molière: thus, Grande became synonymous with stinginess, Goriot - fatherly love, etc. Women occupy a large place in his novels. With all his merciless realism, he always puts a woman on a pedestal, she always stands above the environment, and is a victim of the egoism of a man. His favorite type is a woman of 30-40 years old (“Balzac age”).

The complete works of Balzac were published by himself in 1842 under the general title " human comedy”, with a preface where he defines his task as follows: “to give a history and at the same time a criticism of society, an investigation of its ailments and an examination of its beginnings.” One of the first translators of Balzac into Russian was the great Dostoevsky (his translation of "Eugenie Grande", made even before hard labor).

(For essays on other French writers, see the "More on the topic" section below the text of the article.)

fr. Honore de Balzac

French writer, one of the founders of realism in European literature

short biography

The French writer, "the father of the modern European novel", was born on May 20, 1799 in the city of Tours. His parents did not have a noble origin: his father came from peasants with a good commercial streak, and later changed his surname from Balsa to Balzac. The particle "de", indicating belonging to the nobility, is also a later acquisition of this family.

The ambitious father saw his son as a lawyer, and in 1807 the boy, against his will, was sent to Vendôme College, an educational institution with very strict rules. The first years of study turned into a real torment for young Balzac, he was a regular in the punishment cell, then he gradually got used to it, and his internal protest resulted in parodies of teachers. Soon, the teenager was overtaken by a serious illness, which forced him to leave the college in 1813. The forecasts were the most pessimistic, but five years later the disease receded, allowing Balzac to continue his education.

From 1816 to 1819, while living with his parents in Paris, he worked as a clerk in a judicial office and at the same time studied at the Paris School of Law, but did not want to associate his future with jurisprudence. Balzac managed to convince his father and mother that a literary career was exactly what he needed, and from 1819 he took up writing. In the period up to 1824, the novice author published under pseudonyms, giving out, one after another, frankly opportunistic novels that did not have great artistic value, which he himself later defined as “real literary disgusting”, trying to recall as rarely as possible.

The next stage in the biography of Balzac (1825-1828) was associated with publishing and printing activities. His hopes to get rich did not materialize, moreover, huge debts appeared, which forced the failed publisher to pick up the pen again. In 1829, the reading public learned about the existence of the writer Honore de Balzac: the first novel, Chouans, signed by his real name, was published, and in the same year it was followed by The Physiology of Marriage (1829) - a manual written with humor for married people men. Both works did not go unnoticed, and the novel "The Elixir of Longevity" (1830-1831), the story "Gobsek" (1830) caused quite a wide response. 1830, the publication of "Scenes of Private Life" can be considered the beginning of work on the main literary work - a cycle of stories and novels called "The Human Comedy".

For several years the writer worked as a freelance journalist, but his main thoughts until 1848 were devoted to composing works for The Human Comedy, which included a total of about a hundred works. Schematic features of a large-scale canvas depicting the life of all social strata of contemporary France, Balzac worked in 1834. The name for the cycle, which was replenished with more and more new works, he came up with in 1840 or 1841, and in 1842 the next edition came out already with new heading. Fame and honor outside the homeland came to Balzac during his lifetime, but he did not think to rest on his laurels, especially since the amount of debt left after the failure of publishing was very impressive. The tireless novelist, correcting the work once again, could significantly change the text, completely reshape the composition.

Despite the intense activity, he found time for secular entertainment, trips, including abroad, did not ignore earthly pleasures. In 1832 or 1833 he began an affair with Evelina Hanska, a Polish countess, who at that time was not free. Beloved gave Balzac a promise to marry him when she became a widow, but after 1841, when her husband died, she was in no hurry to keep him. Mental anguish, impending illness and great fatigue caused by many years of intense activity made the last years of Balzac's biography not the happiest. His wedding with Hanska nevertheless took place - in March 1850, but in August, Paris, and then the whole of Europe, spread the news of the writer's death.

Balzac's creative heritage is huge and multifaceted, his talent as a narrator, realistic descriptions, ability to create dramatic intrigue, convey the most subtle impulses of the human soul, put him among the greatest prose writers of the century. Both E. Zola, M. Proust, G. Flaubert, F. Dostoevsky, and prose writers of the 20th century experienced his influence.

Biography from Wikipedia

Born in Tours in the family of a peasant from Languedoc Bernard Francois Bals (Balssa) (06/22/1746-06/19/1829). Balzac's father made a fortune by buying and selling confiscated noble lands during the years of the revolution, and later became assistant to the mayor of the city of Tours. Has no relation to the French writer Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac (1597-1654). Father Honore changed his surname and became Balzac. Mother Anna-Charlotte-Laura Salambier (1778-1853) was much younger than her husband and even outlived her son. She came from a family of a Parisian cloth merchant.

The father prepared his son for advocacy. In 1807-1813, Balzac studied at the College of Vendome, in 1816-1819 - at the Paris School of Law, at the same time he worked as a scribe for a notary; however, he abandoned his legal career and devoted himself to literature. Parents did little for their son. He was placed at the College Vendôme against his will. Meetings with relatives there were forbidden all year round, with the exception of the Christmas holidays. During the first years of his studies, he repeatedly had to be in a punishment cell. In the fourth grade, Honore began to come to terms with school life, but he did not stop mocking teachers ... At the age of 14, he fell ill, and his parents took him home at the request of the college authorities. For five years, Balzac was seriously ill, it was believed that there was no hope of recovery, but soon after the family moved to Paris in 1816, he recovered.

The director of the school, Maréchal-Duplessis, wrote in his memoirs about Balzac: "Starting from the fourth grade, his desk was always full of writings ...". Honore was fond of reading from an early age, he was especially attracted by the work of Montesquieu, Holbach, Helvetius and other French enlighteners. He also tried to write poetry and plays, but his childhood manuscripts have not been preserved. His essay "Treatise on the Will" was taken away by the teacher and burned before his eyes. Later, the writer will describe his childhood years in an educational institution in the novels “Louis Lambert”, “Lily in the Valley” and others.

After 1823, he published several novels under various pseudonyms in the spirit of "violent romanticism". Balzac strove to follow the literary fashion, and later he himself called these literary experiments "real literary disgust" and preferred not to think about them. In 1825-1828 he tried to engage in publishing activities, but failed.

In 1829, the first book signed with the name "Balzac" was published - the historical novel "Chuans" (Les Chouans). The formation of Balzac as a writer was influenced by the historical novels of Walter Scott. Balzac's subsequent works: "Scenes of Private Life" (Scènes de la vie privée, 1830), the novel "The Elixir of Longevity" (L "Élixir de longue vie, 1830-1831, a variation on the themes of the legend of Don Juan); the story "Gobsek" ( Gobseck, 1830) attracted the attention of the reader and critics.In 1831, Balzac published his philosophical novel La Peau de chagrin and began the novel La femme de trente ans (La femme de trente ans). stories "(Contes drolatiques, 1832-1837) - an ironic stylization of Renaissance novelistics. In part autobiographical novel" Louis Lambert "(Louis Lambert, 1832) and especially in the later" Seraphite "(Séraphîta, 1835) reflected Balzac's fascination with the mystical concepts of E Swedenborg and Cl. de Saint-Martin.

His hope of getting rich had not yet materialized (heavy debt is the result of his unsuccessful business ventures) when fame began to come to him. Meanwhile, he continued to work hard, working at his desk for 15-16 hours a day, and annually publishing 3 to 6 books.

In the works created during the first five or six years of his writing activity, the most diverse areas of contemporary French life are depicted: the village, the province, Paris; various social groups - merchants, aristocracy, clergy; various social institutions - family, state, army.

In 1845, the writer was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor.

Honore de Balzac died on August 18, 1850, at the age of 52. The cause of death is gangrene, which developed after he injured his leg on the corner of the bed. However, the fatal disease was only a complication of several years of excruciating ailment associated with the destruction of blood vessels, presumably arteritis.

Balzac was buried in Paris, at the Pere Lachaise cemetery. " All the writers of France came out to bury him". From the chapel where he was said goodbye to the church where he was buried, among the people carrying the coffin were Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo.

Balzac and Evelina Ganskaya

In 1832, Balzac met Evelina Ganskaya in absentia, who entered into correspondence with the writer without revealing her name. Balzac met with Evelina in Neuchâtel, where she arrived with her husband, the owner of vast estates in Ukraine, Wenceslas of Gansky. In 1842, Wenceslas Gansky died, but his widow, despite many years of romance with Balzac, did not marry him, because she wanted to pass on the inheritance of her husband to her only daughter (having married a foreigner, Ganskaya would have lost her fortune). In 1847-1850, Balzac stayed at the estate of Ganskaya Verkhovnya (in the village of the same name in the Ruzhinsky district of the Zhytomyr region, Ukraine). Balzac married Evelina Hanska on March 2, 1850 in the city of Berdichev, in the church of St. Barbara, after the wedding the couple left for Paris. Immediately upon arrival home, the writer fell ill, and Evelina looked after her husband until his last days.

In the unfinished "Letter about Kyiv" and private letters, Balzac left mention of his stay in the Ukrainian towns of Brody, Radzivilov, Dubno, Vyshnevets visited Kyiv in 1847, 1848 and 1850.

Creation

Composition of The Human Comedy

In 1831, Balzac had the idea to create a multi-volume work - a "picture of manners" of his time - a huge work, later entitled by him "The Human Comedy". According to Balzac, The Human Comedy was supposed to be the artistic history and artistic philosophy of France - as it developed after the revolution. Balzac worked on this work throughout his later life; he includes in it the majority of already written works, specially for this purpose he reworks them. The cycle consists of three parts:

• "Etudes on Morals"
• "Philosophical Studies"
• "Analytical Studies".

The most extensive is the first part - "Etudes on Morals", which includes:

"Scenes of Private Life"

• "Gobsek" (1830),
• "Thirty-year-old woman" (1829-1842),
• "Colonel Chabert" (1844),
• "Father Goriot" (1834-35)

"Scenes of Provincial Life"

• "Turkish priest" ( Le curé de Tours, 1832),
• Evgenia Grande "( Eugenie Grandet, 1833),
• "Lost Illusions" (1837-43)

"Scenes of Parisian Life"

• trilogy "The Story of Thirteen" ( L'Histoire des Treize, 1834),
• "Caesar Birotto" ( Cesar Birotteau, 1837),
• Nucingen Banking House ( La Maison Nucingen, 1838),
• "Shine and poverty of courtesans" (1838-1847),
• "Sarrasin" (1830)

"Scenes of Political Life"

• "A case from the time of terror" (1842)

"Scenes of military life"

• "Chuans" (1829),
• "Passion in the Desert" (1837)

"Scenes of village life"

• "Lily of the Valley" (1836)

Subsequently, the cycle was replenished with the novels "Modesta Mignon" ( Modeste Mignon, 1844), "Cousin Betta" ( La Cousine Bette, 1846), "Cousin Pons" ( Le Cousin Pons, 1847), as well as, in its own way summing up the cycle, the novel The Reverse Side of Modern History ( L'envers de l'histoire contemporaine, 1848).

"Philosophical Studies"

They are reflections on the patterns of life.

• "Shagreen Skin" (1831)

"Analytical Studies"

The cycle is characterized by the greatest "philosophy". In some works - for example, in the story "Louis Lambert", the volume of philosophical calculations and reflections many times exceeds the volume of the plot narrative.

Balzac's innovation

The end of the 1820s and the beginning of the 1830s, when Balzac entered literature, was the period of the greatest flowering of Romanticism in French literature. The big novel in European literature by the arrival of Balzac had two main genres: a novel of a personality - an adventurous hero (for example, Robinson Crusoe) or a self-deepening, lonely hero (The Suffering of Young Werther by W. Goethe) and a historical novel (Walter Scott).

Balzac departs both from the novel of personality and from the historical novel of Walter Scott. He aims to show the "individualized type". In the center of his creative attention, according to a number of Soviet literary critics, is not a heroic or outstanding personality, but modern bourgeois society, the France of the July Monarchy.

"Studies on Morals" unfold the picture of France, paint the life of all classes, all social conditions, all social institutions. Their leitmotif is the victory of the financial bourgeoisie over the landed and tribal aristocracy, the strengthening of the role and prestige of wealth, and the weakening or disappearance of many traditional ethical and moral principles associated with this.

In the Russian Empire

Balzac's work found its recognition in Russia during the life of the writer. Much was published in separate editions, as well as in Moscow and St. Petersburg magazines, almost immediately after the Paris publications - during the 1830s. However, some works were banned.

At the request of the head of the Third Department, General A.F. Orlov, Nicholas I allowed the writer to enter Russia, but with strict supervision..

In 1832, 1843, 1847 and 1848-1850. Balzac visited Russia.
From August to October 1843, Balzac lived in St. Petersburg, in Titov's house on Millionnaya Street, 16. That year, a visit by such a famous French writer to the Russian capital caused a new wave of interest in his novels among local youth. One of the young people who showed such interest was Fyodor Dostoevsky, a 22-year-old second lieutenant of the St. Petersburg engineering team. Dostoevsky was so delighted with the work of Balzac that he decided immediately, without delay, to translate one of his novels into Russian. It was the novel "Eugene Grande" - the first Russian translation, published in the magazine "Pantheon" in January 1844, and the first printed publication of Dostoevsky (although the translator was not indicated during publication).

Memory

Cinema

Feature films and television series have been made about the life and work of Balzac, including:

• 1968 - "Mistake of Honore de Balzac" (USSR): director Timofey Levchuk.
• 1973 - Balzac's Great Love (TV series, Poland-France): director Wojciech Solyazh.
• 1999 - "Balzac" (France-Italy-Germany): director José Diane.

Museums

There are several museums dedicated to the writer's work, including in Russia. In France they work:

• house museum in Paris;
• Balzac Museum in the Chateau Sacher of the Loire Valley.

Philately and numismatics

• In honor of Balzac, postage stamps from many countries of the world were issued.

Postage stamp of Ukraine, 1999

Postage stamp of Moldova, 1999

• In 2012, the Paris Mint as part of the numismatic series “Regions of France. Famous people”, minted a 10 euro silver coin in honor of Honore de Balzac, representing the Center region.

Bibliography

Collected works

in Russian

• Collected works in 20 volumes (1896-1899)
• Collected works in 15 volumes (~ 1951-1955)
• Collected works in 24 volumes. - M.: Pravda, 1960 ("Spark" Library)
• Collected works in 10 volumes - M .: Fiction, 1982-1987, 300,000 copies.

in French

• Oeuvres completes, 24 vv. - Paris, 1869-1876, Correspondence, 2 vv., P., 1876
• Letters à l'Étrangère, 2 vv.; P., 1899-1906

Artworks

Novels

• Chouans, or Brittany in 1799 (1829)
• Shagreen leather (1831)
• Louis Lambert (1832)
• Eugenia Grande (1833)
• The History of Thirteen (Ferragus, leader of the devorants; Duchess de Langeais; Golden-eyed girl) (1834)
• Father Goriot (1835)
• Lily of the Valley (1835)
• Nucingen Banking House (1838)
• Beatrice (1839)
• Country Priest (1841)
• Balamutka (1842) / La Rabouilleuse (fr.) / Black sheep (en) / alternative titles: Black Sheep / Bachelor's Life
• Ursula Mirue (1842)
• Thirty Years Old Woman (1842)
• Lost Illusions (I, 1837; II, 1839; III, 1843)
• Peasants (1844)
• Cousin Betta (1846)
• Cousin Pons (1847)
• The Luster and Poverty of the Courtesans (1847)
• MP for Arcee (1854)

Novels and stories

• House of a Cat Playing Ball (1829)
• Marriage Contract (1830)
• Gobsek (1830)
• Vendetta (1830)
• Goodbye! (1830)
• Country Ball (1830)
• Marital Consent (1830)
• Sarrazine (1830)
• Red Hotel (1831)
• Unknown Masterpiece (1831)
• Colonel Chabert (1832)
• The abandoned woman (1832)
• Belle of the Empire (1834)
• Involuntary Sin (1834)
• The Devil's Heir (1834)
• The constable's wife (1834)
• Shout of salvation (1834)
• Witch (1834)
• The Perseverance of Love (1834)
• Bertha's Remorse (1834)
• Naivete (1834)
• The Marriage of the Belle of the Empire (1834)
• Forgiven Melmoth (1835)
• Mass of the Godless (1836)
• Facino Canet (1836)
• Secrets of the Princess de Cadignan (1839)
• Pierre Grasse (1840)
• The Imaginary Mistress (1841)

Screen adaptations

• Shine and Poverty of Courtesans (France; 1975; 9 episodes): director M. Kaznev. Based on the novel of the same name.
• Colonel Chabert (film) (fr. Le Colonel Chabert, 1994, France). Based on the story of the same name.
• Don't Touch the Ax (France-Italy, 2007). Based on the story "The Duchess de Langeais".
• Shagreen leather (French La peau de chagrin, 2010, France). Based on the novel of the same name.

Data

• In the story of K. M. Stanyukovich "A Terrible Disease" the name of Balzac is mentioned. The protagonist Ivan Rakushkin, an aspiring writer with no creative talent and doomed to failure as a writer, is comforted by the thought that Balzac wrote several bad novels before he became famous.

Categories:

Honore de Balzac (1799-1850) - the great French writer of the 19th century, the creator of the "Human Comedy", which includes about a hundred works and is the work of the author's entire life. The novels and stories of The Human Comedy are linked by a common theme and many characters. It includes "Gobsek" (1830), the novels "Shagreen leather" (1830-1831), "Eugenie Grande" (1833), "Father Goriot" (1834-1835), "Lost Illusions" (1837 -1843), "Cousin Betta" (1846), etc. Balzac's epic is a grandiose realistic picture of French society in terms of breadth of coverage.

For Balzac, the years 1820-1829 were the years of searching for oneself in literature. Balzac published action-packed novels under various pseudonyms. The period of anonymous creativity ended in 1829, when the novel Chouans, or Brittany in 1799 was published. At the same time, Balzac was working on short stories from modern French life, which, starting in 1830, were published in editions under the general title Scenes of Private Life. These collections, as well as the philosophical novel Shagreen Skin (1831), brought Balzac great fame.

In 1842, Balzac began to publish a collection of his works called "The Human Comedy", within which he singled out sections: "Etudes on Morals", "Philosophical Studies" and "Analytical Studies". Modeled after the natural sciences that describe animal species. Differing from each other in external features formed by the environment, Balzac set out to describe the social types of people. He explained their diversity by different external conditions and differences in characters, he believed that each of the people is ruled by a certain idea, passion. Balzac was convinced that an idea could enslave a person and lead him to death. even if his social position is favorable.

The history of all the main Balzac heroes is the history of the collision of the passion that owns them with social reality.

Shagreen Skin (1831) is a novel about how a man's selfish will devours his life. This will is materialized in a piece of skin that shrinks with every wish fulfilled.

"Father Goriot" (1835) - a novel about such a "passion" as fatherly love, "Eugenia Grande" (1833) - about the love of gold, "Cousin Betta" (1846) - about the power of revenge that destroys everything around . The novel "A Woman of Thirty" (1831-1834) is about the love of a mature woman (the concept of "a woman of Balzac's age" that later appeared was connected with this theme of Balzac's work).

In the society as Balzac sees and portrays it, only inveterate egoists achieve the fulfillment of their desires. Such is Rastignac, a cross-cutting character who first appears in the novel Père Goriot. Weak, weak-willed people, such as the hero of the novels "Lost Illusions" and "Shine and Poverty of Courtesans" (1838-1847) Lucien, do not stand the test and die.

Balzac painted in The Human Comedy an extensive panorama of all aspects of French life, all strata of society, on the basis of which researchers classify his work as realism. Thus, "Studies on Morals" included "scenes" of private, provincial, Parisian, political, military and rural life.