Honoré de Balzac

Andrew Watts (University of Birmingham)

Ed. by Tim Unwin, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.05: French Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth-Century , 1800-1900.
Vol. editors: David Elwyn Evans (University of St Andrews), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Elisabeth Gerwin (University of Lethbridge), Nigel Harkness (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield), Jennifer Yee (University of Oxford)

Dates

Born 20 May 1799
Died 18 Jul 1850
Activity 1820-1850

Places

Born in France
Active in France

Activities

Primary

Novelist

Resources

Balzac's Works

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Honoré Balzac was born in Tours, Indre-et-Loire, on 20 May 1799, the son of Bernard-François Balssa, a former Secretary to the King's Council, and Anne-Charlotte-Laure Sallambier, the daughter of Parisian haberdashers. After the premature death of their first child, the couple placed Honoré with a wet-nurse in the village of St-Cyr-sur-Loire, where he spent the first four years of his childhood. In 1800, he was joined by his sister, Laure, while in 1802 a second daughter, Laurence, was added to the family. His half-brother, Henry, was born in 1807, the result of an affair between Madame Balzac and a wealthy Tourangeau landowner, Jean de Margonne. Upon returning home, Honoré was tutored in Tours before being sent to board at the Collège de Vendôme in 1807. A prestigious school…

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2860 words

Citation: Watts, Andrew. "Honoré de Balzac". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 September 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=237, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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