When is Honoré de Balzac's birthday?

Honoré de Balzac's birthday is May 20. He was born on May 20, 1799 in Tours, France.

How old was Honoré de Balzac when he died?

Honoré de Balzac died on August 18, 1850, aged 51.

Who shares a birthday with Honoré de Balzac?

Famous people who share Honoré de Balzac's May 20 birthday include John Stuart Mill, Cher, Sigrid Undset, José Mujica and Iker Casillas.

Literature · Media · 1799–1850

Honoré de Balzac — Age, Birthday & Biography

Born: 20 May 1799 · Died: 18 August 1850 · Age: 51

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.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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Honoré de Balzac: Chronicler of French Society

French novelist, born 1799

Honoré de Balzac was born in Tours on 20 May 1799.

He grouped nearly 100 novels and stories as La Comédie humaine.

He wrote Le Père Goriot and Eugénie Grandet.

He was famous for drinking huge amounts of coffee.

Career highlights

1829Les Chouans: first success
1833Eugénie Grandet: published
1835Le Père Goriot: published
1842Comédie humaine: collected
1850Marriage: to Ewelina Hańska

Did you know?He married his long-time correspondent Ewelina Hańska just months before he died.

Age at death: 51
Years since death: 176

Family

Father: Bernard-François Balzac
Mother: Anne-Charlotte-Laure Sallambier
Spouse: Ewelina Hańska
Child: Marie-Caroline Du Fresnay

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Frequently asked questions

When is Honoré de Balzac's birthday?: Honoré de Balzac's birthday is May 20. He was born on May 20, 1799 in Tours, France.
How old was Honoré de Balzac when he died?: Honoré de Balzac died on August 18, 1850, aged 51.
Who shares a birthday with Honoré de Balzac?: Famous people who share Honoré de Balzac's May 20 birthday include John Stuart Mill, Cher, Sigrid Undset, José Mujica and Iker Casillas.

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