Balzac years of life. Biography of Balzac. Documentary film about Balzac

Balzac Honore de (1799 – 1850)
French writer. Born into a family of peasants from Languedoc.

Waltz's original surname was changed by his father, starting his career as an official. The particle “de” was added to the name by the son, claiming noble origin.

Between 1819 and 1824 Balzac published half a dozen novels under a pseudonym.

The publishing and printing business involved him in large debts. For the first time, under his own name, he published the novel “The Last Shuat.”

Period from 1830 to 1848 dedicated to an extensive series of novels and stories known to the reading public as the “Human Comedy.” Balzac devoted all his energy to creativity, but he also loved social life with its amusements and travels.

Overwork from colossal work, problems in his personal life and the first signs of a serious illness overshadowed the last years of the writer’s life. Five months before his death, he married Evelina Ganskaya, whose consent to the marriage Balzac had to wait for many years.

His most famous works are “Shagreen Skin”, “Gobsek”, “An Unknown Masterpiece”, “Eugenia Grande”, “The Banker's House of Nucingen”, “Peasants”, “Cousin Pono”, etc.

Honore de Balzac became the person who most popularized realism in literature. Many European writers studied with him. Contemporaries admire the writer’s works even today.

Childhood of a stubborn genius

On May 20th, the town of Tours in France added another little resident - Honore de Balzac. The boy was born in 1799. His parents were of peasant origin.

The peasant family of the future lawyer and writer came from the outskirts of Languedoc. During the times of bourgeois revolutionary unrest, Father Honore was able to make a brilliant career for that time. He achieved the position of assistant mayor in his hometown.

The boy's mother came from a trading family and was much younger than her husband. She later also outlived her son.

Before the revolution, the family's surname was Balsa. After the revolutionary upheavals, the head of the family decided to take the surname Balzac..

Honore's father, who had become rich, wanted a better fate for his son, so he enrolled him in the School of Law in Paris itself. Studying to become a lawyer did not particularly attract the dreamy Honore; he did not get along with the teachers. As a teenager, the young man fell ill and completed his studies by correspondence at home.

Balzac Jr. devoted all his free time to studying world literature. His favorite authors were Rousseau, Holbach and Montesquieu.

Early successes and failures

Determined in his desire to become a writer, Honore tried his hand at publishing and wrote romantic novels. Neither activity was successful. The losing streak lasted from 1823 to 1828.

Success came to Balzac thanks to his amazing ability to work. He could work up to 16 hours a day. Over the course of a year, the young writer released 5-6 works to the public.

The writer used real themes in his novels. The reasons for new works were simple everyday scenes, events in the country, life in provincial cities, the nobility and the poor. Honore de Balzac wrote “on the topic of the day” and was more successful in this genre than his contemporaries.

Honoré combined all of his works into the “Human Comedy” cycle. There were three blocks about morals, the philosophy of life and the analysis of everything that happens.

The beginning of 1845 became a time of recognition for Honoré. He received the Legion of Honor for his work.

Balzac: events on the personal front

Like most writers, Honore was a subtle and sensitive person, but his personal life was not filled with love successes. When, through correspondence, he met the Polish woman and aristocrat Evelina Ganskaya, he was never able to build a strong alliance with the countess.

Even after the death of her husband, the Countess refused to marry Balzac, as she did not want to lose the inheritance and favor of her only daughter..

At the end of their lives in 1850, after long travels together in Ukraine, Honore de Balzac and Evelina nevertheless got married, but death separated them, not allowing them to fully enjoy the happiness they had suffered.

The death of a great realist

As an old man, Honore de Balzac suffered from severe arthritis. He eventually became so ill that he developed gangrene. In 1850, the writer passed away. He was given a magnificent funeral in Paris. The coffin with the body of the great European prose writer was carried by Dumas and Hugo. The funeral was attended by the best literary minds of the time, aristocrats, as well as numerous relatives.

Today, the works of Honore de Balzac are considered role models. Many modern writers who create in the style of realism look up to them. His works are studied in schools and universities, considering them an imperishable classic, useful for young and mature minds.

fr. Honoré 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 noble origins: his father came from a peasant background with a good commercial streak, and later changed his surname from Balsa to Balzac. The particle “de”, indicating membership in 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 wishes, was sent to the College of Vendôme, an educational institution with very strict rules. The first years of study turned into 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 college in 1813. The forecasts were the most pessimistic, but after five years the illness receded, allowing Balzac to continue his education.

From 1816 to 1819, living with his parents in Paris, he worked in a judge's office as a scribe and at the same time studied at the Paris School of Law, but did not want to connect his future with jurisprudence. Balzac managed to convince his father and mother that a literary career was exactly what he needed, and in 1819 he took up writing. In the period until 1824, the aspiring author published under pseudonyms, releasing one after another frankly opportunistic novels that did not have much artistic value, which he himself later defined as “sheer literary piggy,” trying to remember as rarely as possible.

The next stage of Balzac's biography (1825-1828) was associated with publishing and printing activities. His hopes of getting rich were not justified; 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, “The Chouans,” signed with 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 “Elixir of Longevity” (1830-1831) and the story “Gobsek” (1830) caused quite a wide resonance. 1830, the publication of “Scenes from 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 until 1848 his main thoughts were devoted to writing works for the “Human Comedy,” which included a total of about a hundred works. Balzac worked on the schematic features of a large-scale canvas depicting the life of all social strata of contemporary France in 1834. He came up with the name for the cycle, which was replenished with more and more new works, in 1840 or 1841, and in 1842 the next edition was published with new title. Fame and honor outside his homeland came to Balzac during his lifetime, but he did not think of resting on his laurels, especially since the amount of debt remaining after the failure of his publishing activity was very impressive. The tireless novelist, correcting the work once again, could significantly change the text and completely redraw the composition.

Despite his intense activity, he found time for social entertainment and travel, including abroad, and did not ignore earthly pleasures. In 1832 or 1833, he began an affair with Ewelina Hanska, a Polish countess who was not free at that time. The 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 it. Mental anguish, impending illness and enormous fatigue caused by many years of intense activity made the last years of Balzac’s biography not the happiest. His wedding with Ganskaya still took place - in March 1850, but in August the news of the writer’s death spread throughout Paris and then throughout Europe.

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

Biography from Wikipedia

Born in Tours in the family of a peasant from Languedoc, Bernard François Balssa (06/22/1746-06/19/1829). Balzac's father became rich by buying and selling confiscated noble lands during the revolution, and later became an assistant to the mayor of Tours. No relation to the French writer Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac (1597-1654). Father Honore changed his last name and became Balzac. Mother Anne-Charlotte-Laure Salambier (1778-1853) was much younger than her husband and even outlived her son. She came from the family of a Parisian cloth merchant.

The father prepared his son to become a lawyer. In 1807-1813, Balzac studied at the College Vendôme, in 1816-1819 - at the Paris School of Law, and at the same time worked as a scribe for a notary; however, he abandoned his legal career and devoted himself to literature. The parents did not do much with their son. He was placed at the Collège Vendôme against his will. Meetings with family were prohibited there all year round, with the exception of the Christmas holidays. During the first years of his studies, he had to be in a punishment cell many times. In the fourth grade, Honore began to come to terms with school life, but did not stop ridiculing 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, Marechal-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 works of Montesquieu, Holbach, Helvetius and other French educators. He also tried to write poetry and plays, but his children's manuscripts have not survived. His essay “Treatise on the Will” was taken away by his teacher and burned before his eyes. Later, the writer would describe his childhood years at 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 “frantic romanticism.” Balzac strove to follow literary fashion, and later he himself called these literary experiments “sheer literary swinishness” and preferred not to remember them. In 1825-1828 he tried to engage in publishing, but failed.

In 1829, the first book signed with the name “Balzac” was published - the historical novel “The Chouans” (Les Chouans). Balzac's formation 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 readers and critics. In 1831, Balzac published his philosophical novel “The Shagreen Skin” (La Peau de chagrin) and began the novel “The Thirty-Year-Old Woman” (French) (La femme de trente ans). The cycle “The Naughty Ones” stories" (Contes drolatiques, 1832-1837) - an ironic stylization of Renaissance short stories. The partly autobiographical novel "Louis Lambert" (Louis Lambert, 1832) and especially the later "Séraphîta" (1835) reflected Balzac's fascination with the mystical concepts of E Swedenborg and Clay de Saint-Martin.

His hope of becoming rich had not yet been realized (he was weighed down by debt - 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 publishing 3 to 6 books annually.

The works created during the first five or six years of his writing career depict the most diverse areas of contemporary life in France: 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 was gangrene, which developed after he injured his leg on the corner of the bed. However, the fatal illness was only a complication of several years of painful illness associated with the destruction of blood vessels, presumably arteritis.

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

Balzac and Evelina Ganskaya

In 1832, Balzac met in absentia Evelina Ganskaya, who entered into correspondence with the writer without revealing her name. Balzac met Evelina in Neuchâtel, where she arrived with her husband, the owner of vast estates in Ukraine, Wenceslaus Hansky. In 1842, Wenceslav Gansky died, but his widow, despite a long-term affair with Balzac, did not marry him, as she wanted to pass on her husband’s inheritance to her only daughter (by marrying a foreigner, Ganskaya would have lost her fortune). In 1847-1850, Balzac stayed at the Ganskaya Verkhovnya estate (in the village of the same name in the Ruzhinsky district, Zhitomir region, Ukraine). Balzac married Evelina Ganskaya 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 arriving 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 references to his stay in the Ukrainian towns of Brody, Radzivilov, Dubno, Vishnevets, visiting Kyiv in 1847, 1848 and 1850.

Creation

The composition of "The Human Comedy"

In 1831, Balzac conceived the idea of ​​creating a multi-volume work - a “picture of the morals” of his time - a huge work, which he later entitled “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 entire subsequent life; he includes most of the already written works and reworks them specifically for this purpose. 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 from Private Life"

• "Gobsek" (1830),
• "Woman of Thirty" (1829-1842),
• "Colonel Chabert" (1844),
• "Père Goriot" (1834-35)

"Scenes of Provincial Life"

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

"Scenes from Parisian Life"

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

"Scenes of Political Life"

• "An Incident from the Time of Terror" (1842)

"Scenes of Military Life"

• "Chouans" (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 Wrong Side of Modern History” ( L'envers de l'histoire contemporaine, 1848).

"Philosophical Studies"

They represent reflections on the laws 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 late 1820s and early 1830s, when Balzac entered literature, were the period of greatest flowering of Romanticism in French literature. The great novel in European literature by the time of Balzac had two main genres: the novel of the individual - an adventurous hero (for example, Robinson Crusoe) or a self-absorbed, lonely hero (The Sorrows of Young Werther by W. Goethe) and a historical novel (Walter Scott).

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

“Studies on Morals” unfolds the picture of France, depicts the life of all classes, all social conditions, all social institutions. Their leitmotif is the victory of the financial bourgeoisie over the landed and clan aristocracy, the strengthening of the role and prestige of wealth, and the associated weakening or disappearance of many traditional ethical and moral principles.

In the Russian Empire

Balzac's work found recognition in Russia during the writer's lifetime. Much was published in separate publications, 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, the visit of 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 22-year-old engineer-second lieutenant of the St. Petersburg engineering team Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky was so delighted with Balzac’s work that he decided to immediately, without delay, translate one of his novels into Russian. This was the novel "Eugenia 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 shot about the life and work of Balzac, including:

• 1968 - “The Mistake of Honore de Balzac” (USSR): director Timofey Levchuk.
• 1973 - “Balzac’s Great Love” (TV series, Poland–France): director Wojciech Solazh.
• 1999 - “Balzac” (France–Italy–Germany): director Jose Dayan.

Museums

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

• house museum in Paris;
• Balzac Museum at the Chateau de Sachet in the Loire Valley.

Philately and numismatics

• Postage stamps from many countries around the world were issued in honor of Balzac.

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 silver 10 euro coin in honor of Honoré 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 (“Library “Ogonyok”)
• Collected works in 10 volumes - M.: Fiction, 1982-1987, 300,000 copies.

in French

• Oeuvres complètes, 24 vv. - Paris, 1869-1876, Correspondence, 2 vv., P., 1876
• Lettres à l’Étrangère, 2 vv.; P., 1899-1906

Works

Novels

• Chouans, or Brittany in 1799 (1829)
• Shagreen Leather (1831)
• Louis Lambert (1832)
• Eugenia Grande (1833)
• History of the Thirteen (Ferragus, leader of the Devorantes; Duchess de Langeais; Golden-Eyed Girl) (1834)
• Father Goriot (1835)
• Lily of the Valley (1835)
• Banking house of Nucingen (1838)
• Beatrice (1839)
• Country Priest (1841)
• Screwtape (1842) / La Rabouilleuse (French) / Black sheep (en) / alternative titles: “Black Sheep” / “A Bachelor’s Life”
• Ursula Mirue (1842)
• Woman of Thirty (1842)
• Lost Illusions (I, 1837; II, 1839; III, 1843)
• Peasants (1844)
• Cousin Betta (1846)
• Cousin Pons (1847)
• The Splendor and Poverty of Courtesans (1847)
• MP for Arsi (1854)

Novels and stories

• The House of the Cat Playing Ball (1829)
• Marriage contract (1830)
• Gobsek (1830)
• Vendetta (1830)
• Goodbye! (1830)
• Country Ball (1830)
• Conjugal Consent (1830)
• Sarrasine (1830)
• Red Hotel (1831)
• The Unknown Masterpiece (1831)
• Colonel Chabert (1832)
• Abandoned Woman (1832)
• Belle of the Empire (1834)
• Involuntary Sin (1834)
• The Devil's Heir (1834)
• The Constable's Wife (1834)
• Salvation cry (1834)
• The Witch (1834)
• Perseverance of Love (1834)
• Bertha's Repentance (1834)
• Naivety (1834)
• The Marriage of the Beauty of the Empire (1834)
• Forgiven Melmoth (1835)
• Mass of the Atheist (1836)
• Facino Canet (1836)
• The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan (1839)
• Pierre Grassu (1840)
• The Imaginary Mistress (1841)

Film adaptations

• The brilliance and poverty of courtesans (France; 1975; 9 episodes): director M. Cazeneuve. Based on the novel of the same name.
• Colonel Chabert (film) (French 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 of Langeais".
• Shagreen leather (French: La peau de chagrin, 2010, France). Based on the novel of the same name.

Data

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

One of the greatest prose writers of the 19th century is O. de Balzac. The biography of this writer is in no way inferior to the stormy adventures of the heroes he created. The world is still interested in his personal life.

Bitter childhood

The founder of realism was born on May 20, 1799, in the city of Tours, which is located in the center of France. The prose writer came from a simple but enterprising family. His father, a local lawyer, Bernard Francois Balssa bought and resold the lands of ruined nobles. This business brought him profit. This was the reason that he changed his last name and boasted of his relationship with the popular writer Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, to whom he had nothing to do.

Subsequently he acquired the noble prefix “de”. Bernard married a girl, Anne-Charlotte-Laure Salambier, who was 30 years younger than him. Honore's mother comes from an aristocratic family. The woman was freedom-loving and did not hide her romances. From connections on the side, the writer’s brother appeared, who was Anna’s favorite. And the future writer was given to a nurse. Afterwards he lived in a boarding house.

In a house where everyone except the family was put first, it was not easy for the boy. Honore de Balzac received little attention as a child. His biography is briefly described in some of his works. The problems he experienced when he was little were later present in his works.

Failed lawyer

Apparently, the genius inherited the main traits of his parents, since later they were clearly expressed in his character. At the request of his father and mother, his son was sent to Vendôme College, where he studied law. The institution was distinguished by harsh discipline, which the boy constantly disrupted. For this he earned the reputation of a slacker and a robber. There the child discovered the world of books. At the age of 12, he first tried himself as a writer. Then all his classmates mocked his works.

Due to constant stress and lack of attention, the child fell ill. His parents took him home. The guy was sick for several years. Many doctors did not guarantee that the child would live. Nevertheless, he pulled out.

The young man continued to study the legal profession in Paris, where his parents moved. He studied at the law school from 1816 to 1819. At the same time he works as a notary. But he was truly attracted only by the world of literature. Balzac was drawn to him. The biography could have turned out differently, but the parents decided to support their son’s passion and give him a chance.

First love

The father promised to support Honore for two years. During this time, the young man had to prove that he could work in the chosen direction. During this time, the future talent worked actively, but none of his works were taken seriously. The first Cromwell tragedy was mercilessly condemned. In total, until 1823 he wrote about 20 volumes. Later, the writer himself called his early works a complete mistake.

From time to time the young man left Paris for the province where his parents had moved. There he met Laura de Berni. His biography is closely intertwined with this woman. Balzac Honore, who received a minimum of maternal affection, found warmth and tenderness in the arms of Madame (20 years older than him). Unhappy in her family life, with six children in her arms, she became his love and support.

When the time came to report to his family for the two years they had financed his hobby, Balzac had nothing to provide. All attempts to break into the world of words failed. Therefore, the family refused him money.

Entrepreneur's streak

Since childhood, the master of words dreamed of becoming filthy rich. While literature was not going well, the prose writer was trying to make money. At first it issues one-volume editions of classics. Also organized by the publishing house. Then he goes to Sardinia to find the silver of the ancient Romans in the mines. Another plan that did not pay off was growing pineapples near Paris. Balzac's biography is full of complex and fantastic business schemes. All his plans can be briefly described in one word - fiasco.

Because of the failures, the already large debts grew even more. He was saved from prison for promissory notes by his mother, who partially repaid the loans.

For a long period of his life, the genius was haunted by poverty. So, one night a thief broke into his simple apartment. He groped for something he could steal. The owner, who was in the room at the time, was not taken aback and said: “You are looking in vain in the dark for something that I cannot see even in the light.”

Way to success

Submission was not one of the virtues that Honore de Balzac had. The writer's biography would not have evoked so many emotions if not for his unshakable faith in his destiny. The master continued to work, no matter what.

In 1829, the prose writer took up his pen again. He made a strict schedule for himself. I went to bed at 6 pm and woke up at midnight. I wrote all the time. Dozens of pages came out from under his hand. He maintained his strength with numerous cups of strong coffee.

The efforts were crowned with success. The historical novel “The Chouans” brought him fame. The world did not yet know who Balzac was. The author's biography notes that until now he has used various pseudonyms.

The action in this book takes place during the French Revolution. Here, the talented author skillfully described the struggle of the Republican troops with the Chouans.

The foundation of the main work

On the wings of success, the master decides in 1831 to create a series of stories. This was supposed to be a description of the morality of that time. The title is "Human Comedy". Work began with scenes of life in Paris in the 18th-19th centuries.

The name Honore de Balzac opened many doors. The man’s biography acquired new colors after his lightning popularity. In the most fashionable salons he was received as a respected guest. There the author met many of the heroes of his future works, who were included in The Human Comedy. The goal of the work was to combine all of his written works into one cycle. He took all previously published novels and partially changed them. The heroes of different books have established family, friendship and other connections with each other. The epic was supposed to consist of 143 novels. But the Frenchman failed to complete his plan.

Comedy theory

“The unsurpassed novelist” - this is the name Balzac received from critics. The writer's biography is forever connected with The Human Comedy. It consists of three parts. The first and broadest one, which included previous works, is “Etudes on Morals.” Here the audience meets the miser Gobsek, the selfless father Goriot, and the French officer Chabert. The second section is “Philosophical”. It helps the reader reason about the meaning of life. This includes the novel “Shagreen Skin”. The third part is “Analytical studies”. The books in this piece tend to be overly thought-provoking and sometimes put the plot in the background.

Balzac's biography is full of funny situations. Creativity brought profit, but did not cover all expenses and past debts. There is a story about an author going to his editor weekly to ask for an advance on future royalties. The boss was stingy, so he rarely gave out money. One day the writer, as always, came for payment, but the secretary said that the owner did not accept it today. To which Balzac replied that it didn’t matter to him, the main thing was that the leader gave the money.

Women of Balzac's age

Unattractive in appearance, Honore nevertheless conquered many ladies. They were amazed by the fervor and passion with which the prose writer spoke. Therefore, the man spent all his free time from writing with numerous mistresses. Many noble ladies sought his attention, but often in vain. Balzac loved women of “elegant” age. The writer's biography is full of romantic adventures. Their heroines were ladies who were well over 30. He described such persons in his works.

The most popular character in the novel “The Thirty-Year-Old Woman” became the most popular. The main figure is the girl Julie. Through this image, the author clearly conveys the psychology of the fair sex. It was because of this work that the expression “woman of Balzac’s age” was born, that is, a lady between 30 and 40 years old.

A dream come true

Love plays a big role in a person's life. The Polish Countess Ewelina Hanska became the greatest passion that Honore de Balzac ever felt. The biography briefly describes their acquaintance. The woman, like hundreds of other fans, sent the writer a confession. The man answered. Correspondence began. For a long time they met secretly.

Evelina refused to leave her husband and marry a prose writer. The relationship lasted for 17 years. She became free when she was widowed. Then the couple got married. This happened in May 1850, in the Ukrainian city of Berdichev. But Balzac did not have time to enjoy married life. He was seriously ill for a long time and died that same year on August 18, in Paris.

The master carved out each of his heroes. He was not afraid to make their lives not only bright, but also realistic. That is why Balzac's characters are still interesting to the reader.

BALZAC (Balzac) Honoré de (1799-1850), French writer. The epic "Human Comedy" of 90 novels and stories is connected by a common concept and many characters: the novel "The Unknown Masterpiece" (1831), "Shagreen Skin" (1830-31), "Eugenia Grande" (1833), "Père Goriot" (1834 -35), "Caesar Birotto" (1837), "Lost Illusions" (1837-43), "Cousin Betta" (1846). Balzac's epic is a realistic picture of French society that is grandiose in scope.

BALZAC (Balzac) Honoré de (May 20, 1799, Tours - August 18, 1850, Paris), French writer.

Origin

The writer's father, Bernard François Balssa (who later changed his last name to Balzac), came from a wealthy peasant family, and served in the military supply department. Taking advantage of the similarity of surnames, Balzac at the turn of the 1830s. began to trace his origins to the noble family of Balzac d'Antregues and arbitrarily added the noble particle "de" to his surname. Balzac's mother was 30 years younger than her husband and cheated on him; the writer's younger brother Henri, his mother's "favorite", was the illegitimate son of the owner of a neighboring Many researchers believe that Balzac the novelist's attention to the problems of marriage and adultery is explained not least by the atmosphere that reigned in his family.

Biography

In 1807-13, Balzac was a boarder at a college in the city of Vendôme; The impressions of this period (intensive reading, a feeling of loneliness among classmates who were distant in spirit) were reflected in the philosophical novel Louis Lambert (1832-35). In 1816-19 he studied at the School of Law and served as a clerk in the office of a Parisian solicitor, but then refused to continue his legal career. 1820-29 - years of searching for oneself in literature. Balzac published action-packed novels under various pseudonyms and composed morally descriptive “codes” of social behavior. The period of anonymous creativity ends in 1829, when the novel “Chuany, or Brittany in 1799” is published. At the same time, Balzac was working on short stories from modern French life, which, since 1830, have been 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. The writer is especially popular among women, who are grateful to him for his insight into their psychology (in this Balzac was helped by his first lover, a married woman 22 years older than him, Laura de Bernis). Balzac receives enthusiastic letters from readers; one of these correspondents, who wrote him a letter in 1832 signed “Foreigner,” was the Polish countess, a Russian subject, Evelina Ganskaya (née Rzhevuskaya), who 18 years later became his wife. Despite the enormous success that Balzac’s novels enjoyed in the 1830s and 40s ., his life was not calm. The need to pay off debts required intense work; Every now and then Balzac started commercial adventures: he went to Sardinia, hoping to buy a silver mine there cheaply, bought a country house, which he did not have enough money to maintain, and twice founded periodicals that did not have commercial success. Balzac died six months after his main dream came true, and he finally married the widowed Evelina Ganskaya.

"Human Comedy". Aesthetics

Balzac's extensive legacy includes a collection of frivolous short stories in the "Old French" spirit "Naughty Tales" (1832-37), several plays and a huge number of journalistic articles, but his main creation is "The Human Comedy". Balzac began combining his novels and stories into cycles back in 1834. In 1842, he began to publish a collection of his works under the name “Human Comedy”, within which he distinguished sections: “Etudes on Morals”, “Philosophical Etudes” and “Analytical Etudes”. All works are united not only by “through-out” heroes, but also by an original concept of the world and man. Following the example of naturalists (primarily E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire), who described animal species that differed from each other in external characteristics formed by the environment, Balzac set out to describe social species. He explained their diversity by different external conditions and differences in characters; Each of the people is ruled by a certain idea, passion. Balzac was convinced that ideas are material forces, peculiar fluids, no less powerful than steam or electricity, and therefore an idea can enslave a person and lead him to death, even if his social position is favorable. The story of all Balzac's main characters is the story of a clash between the passion that controls them and social reality. Balzac is an apologist for will; only if a person has a will, his ideas become an effective force. On the other hand, realizing that the confrontation of egoistic wills is fraught with anarchy and chaos, Balzac relies on the family and monarchy - social institutions that cement society.

"Human Comedy". Themes, plots, heroes

The struggle of individual will with circumstances or another equally strong passion forms the plot basis of all the most significant works of Balzac. “Shagreen Skin” (1831) is a novel about how a person’s selfish will (materialized in a piece of skin that decreases with each fulfilled desire) devours his life. “The Search for the Absolute” (1834) is a novel about the search for the philosopher’s stone, to which the natural scientist sacrifices the happiness of his family and his own. “Père Goriot” (1835) is a novel about fatherly love, “Eugenia Grande” (1833) is about the love of gold, “Cousin Bette” (1846) is about the power of revenge that destroys everything around. The novel “A Thirty-Year-Old Woman” (1831-34) is about love, which has become the lot of a mature woman (the concept of “a woman of Balzac’s age”, which has become entrenched in the mass consciousness, is connected with this theme of Balzac’s work).

In society, as Balzac sees and portrays it, either strong egoists achieve the fulfillment of their desires (such as Rastignac, a cross-cutting character who first appears in the novel “Père Goriot”), or people animated by love for their neighbor (the main characters of the novels “The Country Doctor”, 1833, "The Country Priest", 1839); weak, weak-willed people, such as the hero of the novels “Lost Illusions” (1837-43) and “The Splendor and Poverty of Courtesans” (1838-47) by Lucien de Rubempre, do not withstand the tests and die.

French epic of the 19th century.

Each work of Balzac is a kind of “encyclopedia” of one or another class, one or another profession: “The History of the Greatness and Fall of Caesar Birotteau” (1837) - a novel about trade; "The Illustrious Gaudissart" (1833) - a short story about advertising; "Lost Illusions" - a novel about journalism; "The Bankers' House of Nucingen" (1838) - a novel about financial scams.

Balzac painted in the “Human Comedy” an extensive panorama of all aspects of French life, all layers of society (thus, “Etudes on Morals” included “scenes” of private, provincial, Parisian, political, military and rural life), on the basis of which later researchers began classify his work as realism. However, for Balzac himself, what was more important was an apology for will and a strong personality, which brought his work closer to romanticism.