Honoré de Balzac was born on May 20, 1799, in Tours, France. Balzac’s early life was marked by a complex family dynamic and an education that emphasized discipline and rote learning. His parents sent him to boarding schools, and he later studied law in Paris, fulfilling his family’s wishes. However, Balzac was more interested in literature and abandoned his legal career to become a writer, much to his parents’ dismay. His initial foray into literature was not successful. He published several works under pseudonyms, including a series of Gothic novels, but these were poorly received. Balzac struggled financially during these years and faced immense pressure to earn a living from his writing.

Balzac’s breakthrough came in 1829 with the publication of Les Chouans, a historical novel set during the French Revolution. This work demonstrated his potential as a serious writer and was followed by La Physiologie du mariage, a satirical essay on marriage, which further established his reputation. In the early 1830s, Balzac conceived the idea of creating a vast, interconnected series of novels that would depict every aspect of French society. He initially referred to this project as Études des mœurs (“Studies of Manners”) before eventually naming it La Comédie humaine (“The Human Comedy”).