Brief biography of Balzac. Biography of Balzac “Scenes of Provincial Life”

French novelist, considered the father of the naturalistic novel, Honore de Balzac was born on May 20, 1799 in Tours (France). Honore de Balzac's father, Bernard François Balssa (some sources indicate Vals's surname), is a peasant who became rich during the revolution by buying and selling confiscated noble lands, and later became an assistant to the mayor of Tours. Having entered the service in the military supply department and finding himself among officials, he changed his “native” surname, considering it plebeian. At the turn of the 1830s. Honore, in turn, also modified his surname, arbitrarily adding the noble particle “de” to it, justifying this with the fiction of his origins from the noble family of Balzac d’Entregues. Honore Balzac’s mother was 30 years younger than his father

which, in part, was the reason for her betrayal: the father of Honore's younger brother, Henri, was the owner of the castle.

The courtyard of the Collège Vendôme, where eight-year-old Honore was sent by his mother. Upbringing here was harsh. He will spend six years in this “dungeon of knowledge”, only meeting his parents twice during this time. Photo library of the Museums of Paris/Balzac House Museum/Spadem, 1995.

In 1807-1813, Honore studied at the college of Vendôme; in 1816-1819 - at the Paris School of Law, while serving as a clerk in a notary's office. The father sought to prepare his son for lawyering, but Honore decided to become a poet. At the family council, it was decided to give him two years to fulfill his dream. Honore de Balzac writes the drama "Cromwell", but the newly convened family council recognizes the work as worthless and the young man is denied financial assistance. This was followed by a period of material adversity. Balzac's literary career began around 1820, when he began publishing action-packed novels under various pseudonyms and composing morally descriptive "codes" of secular behavior.

Later, some of the first novels were published under the pseudonym Horace de Saint-Aubin. The period of anonymous creativity ended in 1829 after the publication of the novel “Chouans, or Brittany in 1799.” Honore de Balzac called the novel “Shagreen Skin” (1830) the “starting point” of his work. Since 1830 under the general name "Scenes" privacy"short stories about modern French life began to be published.

In 1834 the writer decides to connect common heroes already written since 1829 and future works, combining them into an epic later called “The Human Comedy” (La comedie humaine).

Honoré de Balzac considered Moliere, Francois Rabelais and Walter Scott to be his main literary teachers.

From left to right: Victor Hugo, Eugene Sue, Alexandre Dumas and Honore de Balzac. "Condors of Thought and Style." Cartoon by Jerome Paturot. Photo library of the Museums of Paris/Balzac House Museum/Spadem, 1995.

Twice the novelist tried to make a political career, nominating his candidacy for the Chamber of Deputies in 1832 and 1848, but failed both times. In January 1849, he also failed in the elections to the French Academy.

The writer was popular among women who were grateful to Honore for her emotional descriptions. His first love, Laura de Berni, who was a married woman, and the difference in their ages was twenty-two years, helped a lot in this.
Louise-Antoinette-Laure de Bernis, his first love, whom he called Dilecta. He felt both filial respect and the mad passion of a lover for her. Portrait by Van Gorp. Jean-Loup Charmet.

Honore de Balzac constantly received letters from his readers, and one of these letters changed his life. In 1832, he received a letter from the “Foreigner,” a Polish countess and Russian subject, Evelina Ganskaya, who eighteen years later became his wife.

Balzac bought a mansion on Rue Fortuné in anticipation of the arrival of Ganskaya, who finally agreed to become his wife. Photo library of the Museums of Paris/Balzac House Museum/Spadem, 1995.

Balzac's coffee pot. Photo library of the Museums of Paris/Balzac House Museum/Spadem, 1995.

But fate was not at all kind to the great writer, the conqueror of women's souls, Honore de Balzac, literally five months after his marriage, on August 18, 1850, while his wife was sleeping in the next room in their Parisian apartment, he died.

Balzac - catchphrases

This is how men are designed: they can resist the smartest arguments and cannot resist one single glance.

To say that it is impossible to always love the same woman is as meaningless as to say that a famous musician needs different violins to play different melodies.

He who can be her lover will not be a woman's friend.

All human skill is nothing but a mixture of patience and time.

To doubt is to lose power.

A woman who laughs at her husband cannot love him anymore.

Everything comes in due time for those who know how to wait.

They don’t hang their beliefs on the wall.

Circumstances change, principles never.

Slander is indifferent to nonentity.

The key to all science is the question mark.

To doubt God is to believe in him.

Our conscience is an infallible judge until we kill it.

A noble heart cannot be unfaithful.

Indifference to the fair sex in old age is a punishment for being too good at pleasing in youth.

Seeking variety in love is a sign of powerlessness.

We recognize as a person only one whose soul dreams in love as much about spiritual pleasure as about bodily pleasure.

Jealousy in a man consists of selfishness driven to hell, pride taken by surprise, and irritated false vanity.

A marriage cannot be happy if the spouses, before entering into a union, do not know each other’s morals, habits and characters perfectly.

Never provide services that are not asked for.

People are afraid of cholera, but wine is much more dangerous than it.

Envy is one of the most effective elements of hatred.

Cruelty and fear shake hands with each other.

Drinking the cup of pleasure to the bottom, we find more gravel than pearls.

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Honore de Balzac

"Honore de Balzac"

Classic of French literature. According to the writer's plan, his main work " Human Comedy"was supposed to consist of 143 books. He completed 90 books. This is a grandiose picture of French society in terms of breadth of coverage. He wrote the novels "Shagreen Skin" (1831), "Eugenia Grande" (1833), "Père Goriot" (1835) , “Lily of the Valley” (1836), “Lost Illusions” (1835-1843), “The Splendor and Poverty of Courtesans” (1838-1847), etc.

Honore Balzac was born on May 20, 1799 in the city of Tours. His father, Bernard Francois Balzac, an official of the military department, was engaged in the supply of provisions for the division stationed in this town. He was 53 years old when Honoré was born. The mother of the future writer, Anne-Charlotte Salambier, a well-bred daughter of a Parisian bourgeois, was younger than husband for 32 years. Bernard Francois jokingly boasted of his distant relationship with the ancient Gallic knightly family of Balzac d'Entragues. However, the son will later turn this fantasy into an indisputable fact. "De Balzac" So he began to sign his letters and books, and decorated his carriage with the coat of arms of d'Antregov, preparing to go to Vienna. Meanwhile, all the documents that have reached us do not confirm noble origin Honore.

The future writer spent his early childhood outside his parents' home. At first he lived with a nurse, a simple Turaine peasant woman. When the boy was four years old, he was sent to the Lege boarding school. Balzac spent eleven years, with short breaks, behind the dull walls of various boarding schools and boarding schools. His darkest years were his seven years at the Collège Vendôme, a closed educational institution run by Oratorian monks. Two hundred college students had to unquestioningly submit to the harsh monastic regime. The slightest offense was punishable by flogging or a dark, damp punishment cell. Balzac had few friends. He was known as a gloomy, careless student.

During these years, Honore joined the world of books. He became a regular at the college library. He himself tried to write, but this only caused ridicule from his comrades, who gave him the ironic nickname Poet.

Balzac was fifteen years old when his father was transferred to Paris. The year was 1814. Napoleon's empire had just collapsed. France once again became the kingdom of the Bourbons.

At the insistence of his father, the young man studied at the School of Law and at the same time worked as a scribe in the office of lawyer Guillon de Merville. And secretly from my parents, I attended lectures on literature at the Sorbonne, long hours spent in the Arsenal library, studying the works of philosophers and historians.

The year 1819 began for him with final exams. Honore successfully graduated from the School of Law, but unexpectedly for his parents he decided to devote himself to literature. At this time, the father retired, and the whole family moved to the town of Villeparisis, not far from the capital.

Honoré settled in a working-class area of ​​Paris and lived in a small attic. He wrote to his sister with humor: “Your brother, who is destined for such fame, eats exactly like great person, in other words, he is dying of hunger."

The first literary attempt in the genre of tragedy was subjected to derogatory criticism from the family council. Then Honore drew attention to “Gothic” novels, where heartless villains act, terrible crimes are committed, sinister secrets are revealed and virtuous beauties are rewarded. First, in collaboration with the experienced literary businessman Le Poitevin de l'Aigreville, and then on his own, Balzac published about a dozen novels over the course of five years, which did not bring him the long-awaited financial independence.

Until he was thirty, he avoided women. Balzac, stormy and unrestrained in his mature years, was timid to the point of morbidity in his youth. However, he avoided women not out of fear of falling in love, no, he was afraid of his own passion. In addition, Balzac knew that he was short-legged and clumsy by nature, that he would be ridiculous if, like the dandies of that time, he flirted with beauties. But this feeling of inferiority forced him again and again to run away from women into the solitude of his desk.

Sometimes Balzac lived with his parents in little Villeparisis. Here in 1821 he met Laura de Berni - a 45-year-old woman, a mother of many children, very unhappy in her family life. Her husband, Monsieur Gabriel de Bernis, son of the governor, was a councilor of the imperial court, the scion of an ancient noble family. Every day he saw worse and worse. Balzac's mother forced Honore to study with Laura's son, Alexander. They were almost the same age. Soon Madame Balzac began to notice something. She believed that her son was in love with the lovely Emmanuelle, who was only a few years younger than Honore. But the heart young writer was given to Laura, who bore her husband nine children!

Laura de Bernis - Balzac's first love - played a big role in his life. “She was my mother, friend, family, companion and adviser,” he later admitted. “She made me a writer, she consoled me in my youth, she awakened my taste, she cried and laughed with me, like a sister, she always came to me with a beneficial sleep that soothes the pain... Without it, I would simply die.” She did for him everything that a woman can do for a man. These relationships remained sensually intimate for a whole decade, from 1822 to 1833. Balzac expressed the importance of this connection for him in immortal words: “Nothing can compare with last love a woman who gives a man the happiness of first love."

Laura did not immediately respond to his feelings, but young Honore bombarded her with letters of confession: “How good you were yesterday! Many times you appeared to me in my dreams, brilliant and enchanting, but I confess, yesterday you bypassed your rival - the only mistress of my dreams." Madame de Bernis yielded to him on a warm May night. Honoré was blissful: “Oh Laura! I am writing to you, and I am surrounded by the silence of the night, a night full of you, and in my soul lives the memory of your passionate kisses! What else can I think about?.. I see our bench all the time; I feel your sweet arms tremblingly hug me, and the flowers in front of me, although they have already faded, retain an intoxicating aroma.”

Madame de Bernis was full of passion and fire. But soon their connection became known in the world. Society condemned lovers. Meanwhile, all of Honore's publishing projects failed. Laura helped her lover not only with words of consolation, but also financially. They remained friends until her death in 1836 and corresponded. Laura de Berny served as the prototype for the heroine of the novel “Lily of the Valley,” although, as the writer himself noted, “the image of Madame de Mortsauf in “Lily of the Valley” is only a pale reflection of the smallest merits of this woman.”

From then on, Balzac was satisfied only by those women who were superior to him in experience and, oddly enough, in age. He was not seduced by young beauties who demanded too much and rewarded too little. “A forty-year-old woman will do everything for you, a twenty-year-old woman will do nothing!”

The Duchess d'Abrantes, the widow of General Junot, was hopelessly in debt and disrespected in society when Balzac met her around 1829 at Versailles. She was selling her memoirs. The Duchess easily led the young writer away from the arms of the aging Laura de Berni. Balzac's titles and aristocratic surnames up to last day his life made an irresistible impression. Sometimes they simply fascinated him.

Balzac triumphed, becoming the duchess's lover. However, this relationship did not last long; over time, their relationship became purely friendly. The Duchess introduced Balzac to Madame de Recamier's salon and to the houses of some of her high-society acquaintances. He helped her sell her memoirs and may have participated in their writing.

Around that time, another woman, Zulma Carro, entered Balzac's life. Ugly, lame, she did not love her husband, the manager of a gunpowder factory, whose military career was unsuccessful. But she had respect for his noble character and deeply sympathized with him as a man broken by failures. Zulma's meeting with Honore at his sister's house was happiness for both - for her and for Balzac.

Balzac began to comprehend the spiritual greatness of this woman, capable of amazing self-sacrifice. He wrote to her: “The quarter of an hour that I can spend with you in the evening means more to me than all the bliss of the night spent in the arms of a young beauty...”

But Zulma Carro understood that she did not have feminine attractiveness that could forever bind the person whom she places above all. And besides, she could not deceive or leave her unhappy husband.

"Honore de Balzac"

Zulma offered the writer friendship, “holy and good friendship.” In her letters she spoke frankly about Balzac's works. He thanked her for her criticism. "You are my audience. I am proud to know you, you who give me the courage to strive for improvement." Before his death, Honore, looking back at his entire past life, admitted that Zulma was the most significant, the best of his friends. And he took a pen, and after a long silence wrote her a farewell letter...

Balzac showed the right psychological instinct when, of all the great women around him, he became especially close to the noble Marcelina Debordes-Valmore, to whom he dedicated one of his beautiful creations and to whom, breathless, he climbed the steep stairs to the attic in the Palais Royal. With George Sand, whom he called “brother Georges,” he was connected only by cordial friendship, without the slightest hint of intimacy. Balzac's pride did not allow him to be included in the extensive list of her lovers.

Balzac did not have time to look for a woman, to look for his beloved. He worked for fourteen, fifteen hours at his desk. He spent the rest on sleep and urgent matters. But the women themselves sought to meet the famous writer, bombarding him with letters. Women's letters occupied him, delighted and excited him. On October 5, 1831, he received a letter signed by an English pseudonym. Oh miracle! She turned out to be a marquise. The father of the future Duchess Henriette-Marie de Castries was the Duke de Maillet, a former marshal of France whose ancestry dates back to the eleventh century. Her mother was the Duchess of Fitz-James, in other words, of Stuart and therefore of royal blood. The Marquise was thirty-five years old, which fully corresponded to Balzac's ideal. She survived an affair that made a splash in society. Madame de Castries fell in love with the son of the all-powerful Chancellor Metternich. The feeling turned out to be mutual. The romance ended tragically: the marquise fell from her horse while hunting and broke her spine, and since then she was forced to spend most of her time in a deck chair or bed. Young Metternich soon died of consumption. Balzac decided to woo this unfortunate woman. They met in the salon of the Palais de Castellane. Three hours of conversation flew by unnoticed. “You received me so kindly,” he wrote to her, “you gave me such sweet hours, and I am firmly convinced: you alone are my happiness!”

The relationship became more and more cordial. Balzac's crew stopped every evening at the Castellan Palace, and conversations lasted long after midnight. He accompanied her to the theater, wrote letters to her, read his new works to her, he asked her for advice, gave her the most precious thing he could give: the manuscripts of “The Thirty-Year-Old Woman,” “Colonel Chabert” and “Errands.” For a lonely woman who had been grieving for the deceased for many weeks and months, this spiritual friendship meant a kind of happiness; for Balzac it meant passion.

However, as soon as his advances approached a dangerous point, the Duchess began to defend herself resolutely and adamantly. For several months she allowed the writer “only to slowly move forward, making small conquests with which a shy lover should be satisfied,” stubbornly refusing to “confirm the devotion of his heart by adding his own person to it.” Perhaps she decided to remain faithful to her husband, the father of her child, or perhaps she was ashamed of her injury or was afraid that Balzac would let slip about his relationship with the aristocrat. Alas, for the first time the writer realized that his will was not omnipotent. However, the story with Madame de Castries was not a disaster for Balzac, but only an insignificant episode.

The Duchess de Castries is not the only acquaintance that Balzac owes to the postman. There was a whole string tender friends, in most cases only their names are known - Louise, Claire, Marie. These women usually came to Balzac’s home, and one of them took away an illegitimate child from there. Balzac once remarked: “It is much easier to be a lover than a husband, for the simple reason that it is much more difficult to demonstrate intelligence and wit all day long than to say something intelligent only from time to time.” But can't true love someday break out instead of adultery?

In 1832, an event that seemed insignificant at first glance occurred. On February 28, Balzac's publisher Gosselin gave him a letter with the postmark "Odessa". The letter was from an unknown reader who signed herself “Foreigner”. After some time, a second letter arrived from her asking her to confirm receipt of the letters through the Cotidienne newspaper, distributed in Russia, which the intrigued Balzac did. He soon learned the name of his correspondent. This was a wealthy Polish landowner, Russian subject Evelina Ganskaya, née Countess Rzhevusskaya. She spoke French, English, and German. Her husband Wenceslav Gansky, who was approaching fifty, was often ill. Both were bored in their castle in Volyn, in Verkhovna. Eva gave birth to her husband seven (according to other sources - five) children. But only one daughter survived. Evelina, a stately, sensual woman, was thirty years old.

From the beginning of 1833, a lively correspondence began between Ganska and the French novelist, which lasted fifteen years. Each time his messages became more and more exalted. “You alone can make me happy, Eva. I am on my knees before you, my heart belongs to you. Kill me with one blow, but do not make me suffer! I love you with all the strength of my soul - do not force me to part with these wonderful hopes!”

In the autumn of 1833, in the small Swiss town of Neuchâtel, Balzac's first meeting with Hanska took place. Unfortunately, this important scene in the novel of Balzac's life has not reached us. There are different versions. According to one, he allegedly saw Ganskaya when he stood at the window of “Villa Andre”, and was shocked by how much her appearance coincided with the appearance that he saw in his prophetic dreams, according to another, she immediately recognized him from the portraits and approached him. According to the third, she couldn’t hide how disappointed she was by her troubadour’s appearance. Balzac met the Gansky family. Its head was delighted to meet the famous writer. Honore and Evelina hardly had time alone. Nevertheless, Balzac returned to Paris inspired. The stranger was perfection! He loved everything about her: her sharp foreign accent, her mouth that testified to kindness and voluptuousness. He was in awe, he himself was frightened when he saw that his whole life belonged to her: “There is no other woman in the whole world, only you!”

In 1833, Honoré was working on several novels at once. Balzac increasingly returns to the idea that arose in him back in 1831, while working on Shagreen Skin, to combine the novels into one huge cycle. In the early thirties, the feverish, intense pace of work that became characteristic of Balzac for many years developed. He usually wrote at night, with the curtains tightly closed and candlelight. In a quick, impetuous handwriting he covered page after page, barely keeping up with the rapid rush of his imagination and thoughts, and so on for ten, twelve, fourteen, and sometimes sixteen, eighteen hours a day. So day after day, month after month, maintaining strength with a huge amount of black coffee. Then he allowed himself to relax with friends and lovers. He admitted to Ganskaya: “For three years now I have been living chastely, like a young girl,” although the day before he proudly told his sister that he had become the father of an illegitimate child.

Balzac continued to bombard the Stranger from Verkhovna with letters. “How you want me not to love you: you are the first, who appeared from afar, to warm a heart yearning for love! I did everything to attract the attention of a heavenly angel; glory was my beacon - nothing more. And then you guessed everything: soul, heart, person. Just last night, re-reading your letter, I became convinced that only you are able to understand my whole life. You ask me how I find time to write to you. Well, dear Eva (let me shorten it! your name, it will better prove to you that you personify everything for me feminine- the only woman in the world; you fill the whole world for me, like Eve for the first man). Well, you are the only one who asked the poor artist, who always lacks time, whether he sacrifices something great by thinking and turning to his beloved? No one around me thinks about it; anyone would have no hesitation in taking up all my time.

And now I would like to devote my whole life to you, think only about you, write only to you. With what joy, if I were free from all worries, would I give up all my laurels, all my glory, all my most best works, like grains of incense, on the altar of love! Loving, Eva, is my whole life!”

They agreed on new meeting. On December 25, 1833, Balzac arrives at the Hotel Del Arc in Geneva and finds there his first greeting - a precious ring in which a lock of amazing black hair was sealed. The ring that promised so much, the talisman that Balzac wore without taking it off until the end of his days.

Ganskaya did not immediately yield to her lover. But Honoré was persistent: “You will see: intimacy will only make our love more tender and stronger... How can I express everything to you: your delicate aroma intoxicates me, and no matter how much I possess you, I will only become more and more intoxicated.” Four weeks passed before happiness smiled on Balzac: “Yesterday I kept repeating to myself all evening: she is mine! Ah, the blessed in paradise are not as happy as I was yesterday.” The lovers swore to each other that they would unite forever when Evelina, after the death of her husband, became the owner of Verkhovna and the heiress of millions.

That same year, when Balzac vowed to be faithful to Evelina, he fell in love with another woman, more deeply in love than ever before. In 1835, at one of the high society receptions, he noticed a lady of about thirty, a tall, plump blonde of dazzling beauty, relaxed and clearly sensual. Countess Guidoboni-Visconti willingly allowed her bare shoulders to be admired, admired and taken care of. Balzac, forgetting about the oath of allegiance to Ganskaya, tried to capture the heart (and not only the heart) of the charming Englishwoman. He celebrated his victory - he became the lover of Countess Visconti and, in all likelihood, the father of Lionel Richard Guidoboni-Visconti - one of three illegitimate babies who did not inherit either the name or the genius of their father.

The Countess was the novelist's mistress for five years. IN Hard time she helped the writer and was ready to make any sacrifices for him. She gave herself to him completely and passionately, she didn’t care what Paris would say. Countess Visconti appeared with Balzac in her box. She hid him in her house when he did not know how to escape from creditors. Fortunately, her husband was not jealous...

Naturally, Evelina Ganskaya learned from the newspapers about her lover’s scandalous affair. She showered him with reproaches. Balzac defended himself, claiming that he had exclusively friendly feelings with the countess.

Meanwhile, Countess Visconti arranged for Balzac to travel to Italy, which did not cost him a penny. The novelist went on a trip not with the kind countess, but with a certain young man Marcel. Balzac loved love affairs. He was accompanied to Italy by Mrs. Carolina Marbuti, the wife of a prominent judicial official, dressed in a man's dress. Her black hair was cut short. Balzac met her with the help of the postman. The very first date lasted for three days, and he liked the young blooming lady so much that he invited her to go with him on a trip to Touraine, and then to Italy. The last proposal was greeted with delight.

Not without adventures they arrived in Italy. The very next day, newspapers reported about the arrival of a celebrity in the city. Balzac, who could never resist the admiration of princesses, countesses and marquises, favorably accepted invitations from the Piedmontese aristocracy. Of course, in the salons they learned that young Marcel was a lady in disguise. And... they mistaken Caroline Marbouti for the famous novelist George Sand, who cut her hair short, smoked cigars and wore pants. Balzac's companion suddenly found herself in the spotlight. Gentlemen and ladies surrounded her, chatting with her about belles lettres, were ready in advance to admire her wit and tried to get her Georges Sandov autograph. The writer had difficulty getting out of this difficult situation. Three weeks later they left for Paris, and the journey took them ten whole days, for they stopped in all the cities along the way. Honore was delighted with his young brunette...

Balzac was thirty-seven when he became the lover of a young brunette noblewoman, Hélène de Valette. He tried to attract a certain Louise to him in the usual way - by correspondence. He became a regular at dinners, where the most famous Parisian cocottes did not skimp on bait and caresses.

“Extraordinary women can be captivated only by the charms of their minds and nobility of character,” the writer believed. The wife of a certain general, with whom the writer was visiting, immediately noted a poorly made dress, a very bad hat, and the guest’s overly large head... But as soon as the hat was taken off, the general’s wife stopped noticing her surroundings: “I looked only at his face. To you, who have never seen him, it is difficult to imagine his forehead and eyes. His forehead was large, as if reflecting the light of a lamp, and his brown eyes with a golden shine were more expressive than any words.”

Balzac was a keen connoisseur and connoisseur of antiques. He also collected canes with handles decorated with gold, silver and turquoise. In one of them, he once told friends, a portrait of his mistress was kept.

“A woman is a well-laid table,” Balzac once remarked, “which a man looks at differently before and after eating.” Apparently, Balzac simply devoured his mistresses as greedily as he would a good dinner.

At the end of 1841, Ganskaya’s husband died. The woman to whom Balzac had vowed fidelity suddenly became free. She's a rich widow - here she is, perfect wife: aristocrat, young, smart, majestic. She will free him from debt, give him the opportunity to create, she will inspire him to great deeds, raise him in his own eyes, and satisfy his desires. Honore proposed to Evelina, despite the fact that last years relations with Mrs. Ganskaya became more and more formal. But Evelina resolutely refused her lover. However, even if she agreed, it was by no means in her will to fulfill this desire. According to the laws of the Russian Empire, only the sovereign himself could give permission to marry a foreign citizen and to export the family fortune abroad. In addition, we must not forget about the resistance of his relatives, who saw in Balzac only a hunter of inheritance.

In June 1843, Balzac left Paris to visit Ganskaya in St. Petersburg, where he settled on Bolshaya Millionnaya Street in Titov’s house. Ganskaya lived in the house opposite. The novelist returned to France only in the fall and again plunged into work. His health deteriorated.

In 1845, Balzac met with Hanska in Dresden. Then he accompanied her to Italy and Germany, showing her Paris. And although he financial position things improved significantly, he even bought a house in Paris and began collecting paintings, but life was becoming a real tragedy for him. His physical and creative powers were broken.

Marriage to Ganskaya, whom he idealized in his rich imagination, now seemed to him to be his only salvation. In September 1847, despite his illness, Balzac decided to go to the Ganskaya estate in Verkhovnya, sixty kilometers from Berdichev. Ganskaya still hesitated. She was afraid of losing her estates in Ukraine by marrying a foreigner. In addition, she was frightened by the violent, irrepressible nature of the writer. Balzac left Verkhovnya without hearing the long-awaited “yes”.

Ganskaya's second stay in Paris is shrouded in mystery. They probably made plans for a new home together. They had a child. Obviously, he was born prematurely, maybe he died immediately. It was a girl, and Balzac wrote that the latter circumstance moderated his grief.

Even now Ganskaya hesitated to take the decisive step. She found new excuses. However, in September 1848, the novelist came to Verkhovnya again. He was a completely sick man. He was tormented by pain in his heart and attacks of suffocation. At night he still tried to overcome himself and sat down to write. Alas, his pen was powerless. And then Ganskaya decided to get married. On March 14, 1850, the wedding of Balzac and Hanska took place in the Church of St. Barbarians in the city of Berdichev. He was full of bright hopes for the future and wrote to Zulma Carro: “I did not know either a happy youth or a blooming spring, but now I will have the sunniest summer and the warmest autumn.”

However, his dreams were not destined to come true. The journey of the sick Balzac and his wife from Berdichev to Paris lasted about a month. Since the end of June he no longer left the room. On August 18, the great novelist passed away.

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Biography, life story of Honore de Balzac

Honore de Balzac - famous French writer XIX century, one of the creators of the realistic movement in European literature.

Origin

Honore de Balzac was born on May 20, 1799 in Tours, located near the Loire River. The daughter of a merchant from Paris gave birth to a boy. His father, Bernard Francois, was a simple peasant, but was able to become a fairly rich man thanks to his ability to trade.

Bernard was so successful in buying and then reselling those confiscated from the nobles during the revolution land that he was able to become one of the people. For some reason, Honore's father did not like the real name Balsa, and he changed it to Balzac. In addition, by paying officials a certain amount of money, he became the owner of the “de” particle. Since then, he began to be called more nobly, and by the sound of his first and last name he could well pass for a representative of the privileged class. However, in those days in France, many ambitious commoners who had at least some francs in their souls did this.

Bernard believed that without studying law, his son would forever remain the son of a peasant. Only advocacy, in his opinion, could somehow bring the young man closer to the circle of the elite.

Studies

In the period from 1807 to 1813, fulfilling the will of his father, Honore completed a course of study at the College of Vendôme, and in 1816-1819 he learned the basics of science at the Paris School of Law. The young Balzac did not forget about practice, performing the duties of a scribe for a notary.

At that time he firmly decided to devote himself literary creativity. Who knows, his dream could have come true if the father had paid more attention to his son. But the parents did not pay due attention to what young Honore lived and breathed. Father was busy own affairs, and his mother, who was 30 years younger than him, had a frivolous character and often found pleasure in the chambers of strange men.

It should be noted that the future famous writer I didn’t want to become a lawyer at all, so I studied at these institutions, overcoming myself. Moreover, he amused himself by mocking the teachers. Therefore, it is not surprising that the careless student was repeatedly locked in a punishment cell. At the College of Vendôme, he was generally left to his own devices, because there parents could visit their children only once a year.

CONTINUED BELOW

In 1816, the family moved to the capital, and here the disease suddenly subsided.

The beginning of a creative journey

Beginning in 1823, young Balzac began to assert himself in literary circles. He published his first novels under fictitious names, and tried to write in the spirit of extreme romanticism. Such conditions were dictated by the fashion that prevailed in France at that time. Over time, Honore was skeptical about his attempts at writing. So much so that in the future I tried not to think about them at all.

In 1825, he tried not to write books, but to print them. Attempts with varying success lasted for three years, after which Balzac was completely disillusioned with the publishing business.

Writing craft

Honore returned to creativity again, finishing work on the historical novel “The Chouans” in 1829. By that time, the aspiring writer had such confidence in his abilities that he signed the work with his real name. Then everything went very smoothly, “Scenes of Private Life”, “Elixir of Longevity”, “Gobsek”, “Shagreen Skin” appeared. The last of these works is a philosophical novel.

Balzac worked with all his strength, spending 15 hours a day at his desk. The writer was forced to write to the limit of his capabilities, since he owed creditors a large sum of money.

Honore needed considerable finances for various dubious enterprises. At first, cherishing the hope of buying a silver mine at a reasonable price, he rushed to Sardinia. Then he acquired a spacious estate in rural areas, the contents of which took a toll on the owner’s pockets. Finally established a couple periodicals, the release of which was not commercially successful.

However, such hard work brought him good dividends in the form of fame. Balzac published several books every year. Not every colleague could boast of such a result.

At the time when Balzac loudly declared himself in French literature (the end of the 1820s), the direction of romanticism blossomed wildly. Many writers created the image of an adventurous or lonely hero. However, Balzac sought to move away from describing heroic individuals and focus on bourgeois society as a whole, which was the France of the July Monarchy. The writer depicted the life of representatives of almost all strata, from village workers and merchants to priests and aristocrats.

Marriage

Balzac visited Russia several times, in particular St. Petersburg. During one of his visits, fate brought him together with Evelina Ganskaya. The Countess belonged to a noble Polish family. A romance began, which ended in a wedding. The solemn event took place in the Church of St. Barbara in the city of Berdichev early in the morning, without outsiders.

Balzac's beloved had an estate in Verkhovna, a village located in Ukraine in the Zhitomir region. The couple settled there. Their love lasted almost 20 years, at the same time Balzac and Ganskaya often managed to live separately and not see each other for several years.

Balzac's hobbies

Previously, Balzac, despite his shy nature, awkward behavior and rather short stature, had many women. All of them could not resist Honore's energetic pressure. The young man's partners were mostly ladies much older than him.

As an example, we can recall the history of his relationship with 42-year-old Laura de Berni, who raised nine children. Balzac was 22 years younger, however, this did not stop him from achieving a mature woman. And this can be understood, because in this way he tried, albeit with great delay, to receive the portion of maternal affection due to each child. Those that he was deprived of as a child.

Death of a Writer

In the last years of his life, the writer was often ill. Apparently, a disdainful attitude towards one’s own body made itself felt. Balzac never sought to lead healthy image life.

Your last earthly refuge famous writer found at the famous Parisian cemetery Père Lachaise. Death occurred on August 18, 1850.

Name: Honore de Balzac

Age: 51 years old

Activity: writer

Family status: was married

Honore de Balzac: biography

Honore De Balzac is a French writer and one of the best prose writers. The biography of the founder of realism is similar to the plots of his own works - stormy adventures, mysterious circumstances, difficulties and bright achievements.

On May 20, 1799, in France (the city of Tours), a child was born into a simple family, who later became the father of a naturalistic novel. Father Bernard Francois Balssa had legal education, was engaged in business, reselling the lands of the poor and bankrupt nobles. This type of business brought him profit, so Francois decided to change family name to become “closer” to the intelligentsia. Balssa chose the writer Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac as his “relative.”

Honore's mother, Anne-Charlotte-Laure Salambier, had aristocratic roots and was 30 years younger than her husband, adored life, fun, freedom and men. Love affairs I didn’t hide it from my husband. Anna has bastard, to whom she began to show more care than to the future writer. Honore was cared for by a wet nurse, and after that the boy was sent to live in a boarding house. The novelist’s childhood can hardly be called kind and bright; the problems and stress he experienced later manifested themselves in his works.

His parents wanted Balzac to become a lawyer, so their son studied at Vendôme College with a legal focus. Educational institution was famous for its strict discipline; meetings with loved ones were allowed only during the Christmas holidays. The boy rarely adhered to local rules, for which he acquired a reputation as a robber and slob.

At the age of 12, Honore de Balzac wrote his first children's work, which was laughed at by his classmates. The little writer read books by French classics, composed poems and plays. Unfortunately, his children’s manuscripts could not be preserved, school teachers forbade the child’s literary development, and one day, in front of Honore’s eyes, one of his first works, “Treatise on the Will,” was burned.

Difficulties associated with communication among peers, with teachers, and lack of attention contributed to the development of diseases in the boy. At the age of 14, the family took the seriously ill teenager home. There was no chance of recovery. He spent several years in this state, but still got out

In 1816, Balzac's parents moved to Paris, and there the young novelist continued his studies at the Law School. Along with studying science, Honore got a job as a clerk in a notary's office, but did not get any pleasure from it. Literature attracted Balzac like a magnet, then the father decided to support his son in the direction of writing.

Francois promised him funding for two years. During this period, Honore must prove his ability to make money doing what he loves. Until 1823, Balzac created about 20 volumes of works, but most of them were expected to fail. His first tragedy "" was subjected to severe criticism, and later Balzac himself called his young creativity erroneous.

Literature

In his first works, Balzac tried to follow literary fashion, wrote about love, and publishing activities, but unsuccessfully (1825-1828). The writer's subsequent works were influenced by books written in the spirit historical romanticism.

Then (1820-1830) writers used only two main genres:

1. Romanticism of the individual, aimed at heroic achievements, for example the book “Robinson Crusoe”.
2. The life and problems of the hero of the novel associated with his loneliness.

Rereading the works of successful writers, Balzac decided to move away from the novel of personality and find something new. "IN leading role» his works began to appear not heroic personality, and society as a whole. In this case, the modern bourgeois society of his native state.

In 1834, Honore created a work aimed at showing the “picture of morals” of that time and worked on it throughout his life. The book was later called "The Human Comedy". Balzac's idea was to create an artistic philosophical history of France, i.e. what the country became after surviving the revolution.

The literary edition consists of several parts, including a list of various works:

1. “Etudes on Morals” (6 sections).
2. “Philosophical Studies” (22 works).
3. “Analytical research” (1 work instead of 5 intended by the author).

This book can easily be called a masterpiece. It describes simple people, the professions of the heroes of the works and their role in society are noted. “The Human Comedy” is filled with non-fictional facts, everything from life, everything about the human heart.

Works

Honoré de Balzac finally formed life positions in the field of creativity after writing the following works:

• "Gobsek" (1830). Initially, the work had a different title - “The Dangers of Dissipation.” The qualities are clearly displayed here: greed and avarice, as well as their influence on the fate of the heroes.
• “Shagreen Skin” (1831) - this work brought success to the writer. The book is imbued with romantic and philosophical aspects. It describes in detail life issues and possible solutions.
• "Woman of Thirty" (1842). main character the writer has far from the best character traits, leads a life that is condemned from the point of view of society, thereby pointing out to readers mistakes that have a destructive effect on other people. Here Balzac wisely expresses his thoughts about human essence.

• “Lost Illusions” (publication in three parts, 1836-1842). In this book, Honore, as always, managed to approach every detail, creating a picture moral life French citizens. Vividly reflected in the work: human egoism, passion for power, wealth, self-confidence.
• “The brilliance and poverty of courtesans” (1838-1847). This novel is not about the life of Parisian courtesans, as its title initially suggests, but about the struggle between secular and criminal society. Another brilliant work, included in the “multi-volume” “Human Comedy”.
• The work and biography of Honore de Balzac is included in the compulsory study of materials in schools around the world according to the educational program.

Personal life

You could write a separate novel about the personal life of the great Honore de Balzac, but it would not be possible to call it happy. As a child, the little writer did not receive enough mother's love and throughout his conscious life he looked for care, attention and tenderness in other women. He often fell in love with ladies much older than himself.

The great writer of the 19th century was not handsome, as can be seen from the photo. But he had exquisite eloquence, charm, and knew how to conquer arrogant young ladies in a simple monologue with just one remark.

His first woman was Mrs. Laura de Bernis. She was 40 years old. She was old enough to be a mother to young Honore, and, perhaps, managed to replace her, becoming a faithful friend and adviser. After the breakup of their romance ex-lovers They maintained friendly relations and maintained correspondence until their death.

When the writer achieved success with readers, he began to receive hundreds of letters from different women, and one day Balzac came across a sketch mysterious girl, admired by the talent of the genius. Her subsequent letters turned out to be clear declarations of love. For some time, Honore corresponded with a foreigner, and then they met in Switzerland. The lady turned out to be married, which did not bother the writer at all.

The stranger's name was Evelina Ganskaya. She was smart, beautiful, young (32 years old) and the writer immediately liked her. Afterwards Balzac awarded this woman the title main love in his life.

The lovers rarely saw each other, but often corresponded and made plans for the future, because... Evelina’s husband was 17 years older than her and could have died at any moment. Having sincere love in his heart for Ganskaya, the writer did not restrain himself from courting other women.

When Wenceslav Gansky (husband) died, Evelina pushed Balzac away, because a wedding with a Frenchman threatened her with separation from her daughter Anna (threat), but a few months later she invited her to Russia (her place of residence).

Only 17 years after they met, the couple got married (1850). Honoré was then 51 years old and was the most happy man in the world, but they failed to live a married life.

Death

The talented writer could have died at the age of 43, when various diseases began to overcome him, but thanks to the desire to love and be loved by Evelina, he held on.

Literally immediately after the wedding, Ganskaya turned into a nurse. Doctors gave Honora a terrible diagnosis - cardiac hypertrophy. The writer could not walk, write or even read books. The woman did not leave her husband, wanting to fill his last days with peace, care and love.

On August 18, 1950, Balzac died. After himself, he left his wife an unenviable inheritance - huge debts. Evelina sold all her property in Russia to pay them off and went with her daughter to Paris. There, the widow took guardianship of the prose writer’s mother and devoted the remaining 30 years of her life to perpetuating the works of her lover.

Bibliography

• Chouans, or Brittany in 1799 (1829).
• Shagreen leather (1831).
• Louis Lambert (1832).
• Banking house of Nucingen (1838).
• Beatrice (1839).
• The Constable's Wife (1834).
• Salvation cry (1834).
• The Witch (1834).
• Perseverance of Love (1834).
• Bertha's Repentance (1834).
• Naivety (1834).
• Facino Canet (1836).
• The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan (1839).
• Pierre Grassu (1840).
• The Imaginary Mistress (1841).

Balzac comes from a peasant family, his father was engaged in buying up noble lands that were confiscated from the owners, then resold them.

Honore would not have been Balzac if his father had not changed his surname and bought the particle “de”, because the old one seemed plebeian to him.

As for the mother, she was the daughter of a merchant from Paris. Balzac's father saw his son only in the field of lawyering.

That is why in 1807-1813 Oneret was a student at the College of Vendôme, and in 1816-1819 the Paris School of Law became the place of his further education, at the same time the young man worked as a scribe for a notary.

But a legal career did not appeal to Balzac, and he chose the literary path. He received almost no attention from his parents. It is not surprising that he ended up at Vendôme College against his will. There, visiting relatives was allowed once a year - during the Christmas holidays.

During the first years spent in college, Honore was often in the punishment cell; after the third grade, he began to get used to college discipline, but he did not stop laughing at the teachers. At the age of 14, he was taken home due to illness; for five years it did not recede and hopes for recovery dried up. And suddenly, in 1816, after moving to Paris, he finally recovered.

Since 1823, Balzac published several works under pseudonyms. In these novels, he adhered to the ideas of “fierce romanticism”; this was justified by Honore’s desire to follow fashion in literature. He didn’t want to remember this experience later.

In 1825-1828, Balzac tried himself as a publisher, but without success. As a writer, Honore de Balzac was influenced by the historical novels of Walter Scott. In 1829, the first one was published under the name “Balzac” - “Chouans”.

This was followed by the following works by Balzac: “Scenes of Private Life” - 1830, the story “Gobsek” - 1830, the novel “Elixir of Longevity” - 1830-1831, philosophical novel“Shagreen Skin” - 1831. Begins work on the novel “A Thirty-Year-Old Woman”, the cycle “Naughty Stories” - 1832-1837. Partially autobiographical novel"Louis Lambert" - 1832, "Seraphite" - 1835, the novel "Père Goriot" - 1832, the novel "Eugenie Grande" - 1833.

As a result of his unsuccessful commercial activities considerable debts arose. Fame came to Balzac, but his financial fortune did not increase. Wealth remained only in dreams. Honore did not stop working hard - 15-16 hours a day spent writing works. As a result, it was possible to publish up to six books a day. In his first works, Balzac raised various themes and ideas. But they all concerned various spheres of life in France and its inhabitants.

The main characters were people from various social strata: clergy, merchants, aristocracy; from various social institutions: state, army, family. The actions took place in villages, provinces and in Paris. In 1832, Balzac began correspondence with an aristocrat from Poland, E. Hanska. She lived in Russia, where he arrived in 1843.

Subsequent meetings took place in 1847 and 1848. already in Ukraine. Officially, the marriage with E. Ganskaya was registered shortly before the death of Honore de Balzac, who died in Paris on August 18, 1850. There he was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery. A biography of Honoré de Balzac was written by his sister Madame Surville in 1858.