Honoré de Balzac

1799 – 1850 · died at about 51^[1][2]

Literature

Fun Facts About Honoré de Balzac

• Honoré de Balzac wrote from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. fueled by black coffee, and he reportedly drank more than 50 cups a day.^[3]
• The noble-sounding "de" was not in his birth name: the novelist was born Honoré Balzac.^[3]
• Balzac tried running a printing business and then a type foundry; both failed, and by 1828 he owed his mother 50,000 francs.^[3]
• Balzac, a rival of Franz Liszt for her affections, married Countess Ewelina Hańska in 1850, only five months before his death.^[3][4][5]
• Victor Hugo visited Balzac on the day he died, and later served as a pallbearer and gave the eulogy at his funeral.^[3][6][7]
• Balzac counted Franz Liszt, George Sand, Frédéric Chopin and Gioachino Rossini among his friends.^{[3][4][5][8][9][10][11]}
• Honoré de Balzac was alive at the same time as Joseph Haydn — their lives overlapped for 10 years (1799–1809).^{[1][2][12][13]}
• Honoré de Balzac shares a birthday with Toussaint Louverture: both were born on May 20.^{[1][2][14][15]}

Honoré de Balzac 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.^[1]

Contemporaries

Jacob Grimm

51 yr overlap

Michael Faraday

51 yr overlap

Charles Babbage

51 yr overlap

Mary Shelley

51 yr overlap

Carl Friedrich Gauss

51 yr overlap

Arthur Schopenhauer

51 yr overlap

Heinrich Heine

51 yr overlap

Hokusai

50 yr overlap

John Quincy Adams

49 yr overlap

Victor Hugo

48 yr overlap

Alexandre Dumas

48 yr overlap

Ralph Waldo Emerson

47 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Honoré de Balzac

When was Honoré de Balzac born?

Honoré de Balzac was born on May 20, 1799, and died on August 18, 1850.

How old was Honoré de Balzac at death?

Honoré de Balzac was born on May 20, 1799, and died on August 18, 1850, at age 51.

What was Honoré de Balzac known for?

Honoré de Balzac was known for: French novelist of La Comédie humaine. Honoré de Balzac 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.

Who was alive at the same time as Honoré de Balzac?

Honoré de Balzac's closest contemporary was Jacob Grimm. Their lives overlapped for 51 years.