Honore de Balzac

Posted by Tel Asiado May 20, 2008

Great Thinkers Datebook: May 20

Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), French novelist, playwright and short story writer, is born today, May 20. He devoted most of his life to writing a series of novels, plays and short stories, The Human Comedy (La Comédie Humaine), that depict all aspects of the 19th century French society,

Balzac had a huge influence on later 19th-century French novelists like Gustave Flaubert and Émile Zola. Henry James thought he was the best novelist of all time.

He once said, "All happiness depends on courage and work."

Brief bio and works of Honoré de Balzac

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