Born: 20 May 1799 · Died: 18 August 1850 · Age at death: 51
How old was Honoré de Balzac when he died?
Honoré de Balzac died aged 51. He was born on 20 May 1799 and died on 18 August 1850.
French novelist who created La Comédie humaine, a vast cycle of novels including Père Goriot that portrays French society
Did you know?He was famously addicted to caffeine and reportedly drank dozens of cups of strong black coffee every single day.
Quick facts
Date of birth20 May 1799
Date of death18 August 1850
Age at death51
Cause of deathGangrene
NationalityFrench
BirthplaceTours, France
Occupationnovelist, literary critic, writer
Editor's Take:
Balzac set out to describe an entire society, and he very nearly succeeded. His vast series of interlinked novels, La Comédie humaine, follows bankers, lovers, students, priests and crooks through the France of the early nineteenth century. Characters reappear from book to book, creating a fictional world as busy and connected as a real city. His sharp eye for money, ambition and social climbing made him one of the founders of literary realism. Writers from Dickens to Zola and Proust learned from his ambition and detail.
Key Milestones
1829: Has his first success with Les Chouans
1835: Publishes Le Père Goriot
1842: Begins publishing his work as La Comédie humaine
1850: Marries Ewelina Hańska
Honoré de Balzac ( BAL-zak, also US: BAWL-; French:; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence La Comédie humaine, described as a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his magnum opus.
