Balzac, HonorÉ De

(born May 20, 1799, Tours, France—died Aug. 18, 1850, Paris) French writer. Balzac began working as a clerk in Paris at about age 16.

An early attempt at a business career left him with huge debts, and for decades he toiled incessantly to improve his worsening financial condition. In 1829 his novels and stories began to achieve some success, and his early masterpieces soon followed. In a vast series he collectively called The Human Comedy, eventually numbering some 90 novels and novellas, he sought to produce a comprehensive picture of contemporary society by presenting all the varieties of human nature. Among his masterpieces are Eugénie Grandet (1833), Père Goriot (1835), Lost Illusions (1837–43), A Harlot High and Low (1843–47), and Cousin Bette (1846). His novels are notable for their great narrative drive, their large casts of vital and diverse characters, and their obsessive interest in and examination of virtually all spheres of life. His best-known story collection is his Droll Stories, 3 vol. (1832–37). His tumultuous life was one of mounting debts and almost incessant toil, with frequent bouts of writing feverishly for 15 hours at a stretch (his death has been attributed to overwork and excessive coffee consumption). He is generally considered the major early influence on realism, or naturalism, in the novel and one of the greatest fiction writers of all time.

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