The life of Balzac. Balzac, Honoré de – short biography
Stone connoisseurs and practicing magicians unanimously claim that opal is one of the most powerful stones in nature: all opals amazingly shimmer and luminesce. White opals glow with a pleasant blue, reddish, greenish tint. Fire opals are greenish-brown. Black - all the colors of the rainbow! This flicker is like nothing else. Some kind of cosmic beauty. It's interesting that opals were discovered on Mars! In any case, NASA specialists recently notified the general public about this.
The opal combines all the splendor of nature - scorching fire and sparkling lightning, the twinkling of distant stars and the seven colors of the rainbow. The Australian aborigines have created many legends about this amazing mineral. One of them says that when the times of dreams reigned on Earth, the Creator descended from the heavens right on the rainbow. In the place where his foot touched the ground, a priceless deposit of shimmering opals was formed.
The stones are simply amazing, all multi-colored, but have one general characteristics– they twinkle divinely and glow simply fantastically! Red reflections give way to blue ones, then green ones appear, etc. The shade and variety of shimmer depends on the type of opal. Black opals or dark gray opals are distinguished by such a rich color shimmer that it is difficult to even imagine anything similar in the earthly nature around us. The darker the color base of the opal, the clearer and more piercing the shimmering reflections. On white and milky opals the color play is vague, so these types of minerals are the most affordable.
The color play of opals knows no boundaries. Each stone shines in its own way - there is not one that is similar to the other! But there are also opals without luminescence; they are called “ordinary”. The most expensive and valuable opals are classified as precious stones.
In the works of the famous Roman scientist and writer Pliny, it is written that opal is a stone that fell from heaven and combines the play of the most beautiful precious stones of our planet: “It is characterized by the sharp play of light of a carbuncle, the purple reflection of amethyst, the golden yellow of topaz, the blue of sapphire and the aquamarine tones of emerald - all mixed together and shining in a delightful kaleidoscope."
It is curious that the origin of the fantastic shimmer of opals is very for a long time didn't find a complete one scientific explanation. Scientists could not understand how the multi-colored reflections were formed that give the stone that amazing shimmer that delights so much. And only 50 years ago it was discovered that the fabulous play of colors is created by small balls of silica in opal rock. The densely placed beads spread the rays of light passing through the stone into all the colors of the rainbow, thus creating a magnificent shimmer. Such subtleties were discovered only after the invention of the electron microscope.
The multi-colored sparkle of opal is most often not continuous, but dotted, zonal and even mosaic. In general, the stone is extremely beautiful. And the advantages of opal are not limited to external attractiveness alone.
Opal is a wonderful helper! One of the most powerful properties of the mineral is its ability to organize the life of its owner. Everything, starting with thoughts, obeys a single algorithm and stable vibrations of the miracle stone. With such an assistant, cleanliness and order will gradually reign in your home and workplace. If you are forgetful and absent-minded, be sure to make friends with opal, this is your stone! You won’t even notice how everything will fall into place, and the desired feeling of balance and harmony will settle in your soul.
Opal is a wonderful talisman for anyone who wants to radically change their destiny. The stone is perfect for people who are involved in creativity and strive to discover their talents. In addition, the shimmering stone will eliminate all unnecessary and superfluous thoughts, drive away fears, “turn off” all complexes, and relieve obsessions and difficult memories. According to active magicians, opal does not have its positive magical effect on everyone, but only on decent and noble people. Even the same person can be deterred by a stone from base acts and whims, or even pushed onto the path of forbidden pleasures.
If your family life is falling apart at the seams, try working with opal. Astrologers and lithotherapists note the great pacifying power of the stone. Opal talismans and amulets smooth out conflicts between loved ones and help quickly resolve family problems and troubles in the office.
The stone helps you focus on what is important and not waste your time on trifles, pay attention to yourself and loved ones, maintaining the right balance of power. Opal helps to harmonize all areas of its owner's life.
Opals were first brought to Europe from India and immediately won the hearts of representatives of high society, as well as magicians and healers. This happened only at the beginning of the 19th century. And previously, opal was considered the rarest stone, for which the European nobility was ready to pay crazy amounts of money. The stone was different from all other minerals. An unreal shimmer, unlike anything else, gave it mystery and sacredness.
In Europe, the fashion for opals really blossomed only at the beginning of the 20th century. Europeans fell in love with the soft charm of the mineral, which combines perfectly with jewelry enamel in jewelry. Due to its amazing multicolor, opal looks great in both silver and gold.
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origin of name
WITH Greek language opallios translates as “change of color.” And translated from Sanskrit, upala means precious stone. IN different countries opal has other unofficial names - jirasol, royal opal, hyalite and others. Especially beautiful name“Harlequin” – reflects the visual qualities and energy of the stone to the maximum.
Coloring
Nature has created opals of a wide variety of colors - red, green, yellow, orange, blue, pale milky, etc. Less commonly, you come across opals in which the “core” and rim differ in color. For example, the middle is dark red and the border is bright green. All opals have a beautiful glassy luster, sometimes waxy or pearlescent. Among the noble precious opals there are white, black, pale or dark purple, and blue.
There are many names for the color varieties of precious opals:
White– translucent, light blue shimmer.
Black– shades can be purple, blue, green, burgundy. The flickering is multi-colored, mainly with red sparkles.
Harlequin– multi-color pattern, multi-color shimmer.
Fiery- yellow, red. Flickering with fiery reflections.
Girasol- blue, colorless. Shimmer in red tones.
Lechos-opal– green, Shimmer in greenish and burgundy tones.
Tsarsky– inside dark red or bronze color. The border is bright green.
Hydrophane– white with various shades. Once in water, it becomes transparent and shimmering.
Cacholong– milky white. This is an opaque variety of porcelain opals.
Peruvian opal– orange, bluish-green.
Prazopal– opaque stone, apple green hue.
Irisopal– colorless or brownish. Single color flicker.
Boulder opal is another variety of natural opal, which is an opal rock that fills cavities and veins in any host rock. Most often in brown iron ore. It looks very beautiful - a single-colored rock, as a rule, is decorated with shimmering multi-colored opal inclusions and opal zones.
Famous jewelry with stone
- The most luxurious opal collection is kept in one of the Viennese museums. Two samples are simply amazing - large and very bright stones, weighing almost 7000 carats. Opals of impressive beauty are now on display in the Medici Treasury in Florence.
- Czech opals, which were mined in Cervenice, became famous throughout the world in their time. This is the rarest opal deposit in Europe, which, unfortunately, has already been depleted. Czech opal “Burning Troy” is a six-hundred-gram treasure that was once chased by the European nobility. Went to Napoleon's wife for 30,000 gold ducats. Another Czech relic is a stunning 16th-century Czech opal necklace. Today this miracle is demonstrated to tourists by the Budapest National Museum.
- During the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to Australia in 1954, the Government of the country presented the crowned lady with a stunning opal necklace that weighs 203 carats. They say that the queen was delighted with the beauty of the stones.
Place of Birth
Australia and Mexico are the main suppliers of natural opals to the world market. Australian opals are the largest and most beautiful. The largest stone weighed 5.27 kg (26,350 carats) and was 23 centimeters long. Minerals of various colors are mined in these parts, including the most valuable and rare black opals. Deposits in Australia provide 97% of all opal production in the world. In terms of its content, the Australian opal rock is generally very interesting. They always find something unusual there. For example, at the beginning of the 20th century, an opalized fifteen-centimeter snake was found! The opal snake shimmers with all the colors of the rainbow and travels around the world - from collection to collection.
Large opals are appearing today in Brazil. Most recently, an opal weighing 4.3 kg was found, which was sold for six hundred thousand dollars.
Opals are mined in small quantities in Czechoslovakia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, USA, Japan, Honduras, and Guatemala. A few years ago, NASA announced that they had discovered opals on Mars!
Opal – a stone of feelings
People have always known about the magical effect of opals on a person - shimmering stones eliminated gloomy thoughts and Bad mood. Magic properties opal is as changeable as sparkling different colors the surface of this stone. Opal brings success to self-confident people and greatly increases their well-being. Provided that the owner of the stone is honest and decency. For weak-willed people, opal can cause anxiety - it can give rise to unreasonable fears and even nightmares, so you should wear it with caution. Opal helps its owner open creative gift, regardless of the type of activity of the owner of the stone.
Astrologically, not all representatives of the zodiac signs can wear opal. Opal is the stone of the Moon and favors Pisces most of all. The stone will also have a beneficial effect on Libra and Capricorn. Fire opal is ideal for Aries. Black opals are recommended only for Scorpios. The stone favors and helps in every possible way those born in October.
In fact, almost all types of shimmering opals are truly stunning. Whether it's fiery lightning on noble black opals, or the delicate shimmer of milky opals. It is this incredible color contrast that gives opals the charm for which they are loved and appreciated all over the world.
Opals are as bright and changeable as people's feelings. Each time they flicker in a completely new way.
Application
Opal is widely used today in jewelry. Only high-quality noble opals are used to make jewelry, with a rainbow of colors. These are predominantly translucent varieties with a very bright shimmer. They are very expensive in the market.
Fire opals are ideal for cutting. Craftsmen first carefully remove all surface irregularities using a diamond wheel. Then the stone is given the required shape, followed by finishing, where emery cloth is used. The final stage is polishing the opal surface with a damp leather wheel.
Jewelers complain about the fragility of natural opals. Opals are quite capricious - if handled incorrectly, opals can become cloudy, lose their magical shimmer, crack, etc.
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What is opal afraid of?
Owners of opal jewelry need to know that this mineral is very sensitive to the atmosphere and does not like to be outdoors a lot. The product must be constantly stored in a dark place (but not very dry!), and taken out only to go out. Loss of moisture in a negative way affects the quality of the opal surface. If your jewelry is constantly lying on outdoors, after some time cracks may appear on its surface. Opals should only be stored in low humidity conditions. And if you dip the opal in a warm soapy solution, the quality of the surface is guaranteed to deteriorate. Wear your opal jewelry more often, and be sure to wipe it with a damp soft cloth after each appearance. To protect it from drying out, you can keep the opal in clean water.
Remember that opals can absorb some types of liquids and oils very quickly. Even dirty water may significantly worsen appearance shimmering stones. It is worth considering this both during use and during care. Opals should not be heated or struck - the mineral is very fragile.
To make opals play with all the colors of the rainbow, they are cut into round or oval cabochons. Also, plates are often turned from opals, which are used in jewelry. In combination with onyx and obsidian, they look simply stunning. Such plates are called “opal doublets”. Opal plates are glued onto onyx, obsidian, or “ordinary” opal. Triplets are when a layer of clear rock crystal or hard glass is glued onto the opal layer to provide additional protection to the surface.
In order to somehow strengthen the fragile stone and reduce the risk of damage, opals are set in special protective frames. Also, to increase hardness, the surface of opals is impregnated with colorless resins.
The beauty of the stone, high demand and its high cost stimulate the production of synthetic opals. Most often, fakes are made from opalescent glass.
Medicinal properties
Healing properties opals are widely used by followers of Ayurveda. In addition, the mineral is ideal for meditation and activation of the chakras. The impact and influence of a stone on the chakras depends on its color.
Read more about: Main chakra stones.
In ancient times, opal water was used to eliminate all kinds of infections. It was believed that opal amulets saved people from the plague. Our ancestors wore opal to prevent colds. Also, opal tincture helps to get rid of various heart diseases, nervous disorders, and prolonged and severe depression. Opals help cope with insomnia, banish nightmares, relieve stressful conditions.
Opal is recommended to be worn by women with infertility. There is evidence that until the 2nd century, patients were prescribed opal as a effective remedy stimulates the heart muscle, as well as to prevent heart disease, prevent tumors and improve poor vision. Blonde girls decorated their hair with opal beads to prevent it from darkening.
Magic properties
Opal is a “magical” stone and energetically very strong. Since ancient times, it has been used as one of the most powerful tools for conducting secret rituals and witchcraft. The mineral also has powerful protective functions, so it was widely used as a talisman.
Despite the fact that opal began to be mined on an industrial scale relatively late (at the end of the 19th century), this magical stone has been known for a very long time. At the same time, the mineral has always been in high demand: it was searched for, hunted for, and bought at the highest price.
As the famous naturalist writer Pliny the Elder wrote, opal was so highly valued in Ancient Rome that possessing it was considered the highest degree of prestige. Emperor Antony was so jealous of the Roman senator Nonnius, who was in disgrace, that he had to expel the latter from the country just because he refused to sell his treasure for any money. The noble Roman chose to lose his position as a senator and leave his homeland rather than part with a unique stone.
Experts say that weak-willed and weak-willed people need to be careful with opal - a powerful mineral can weigh them down. In such cases, it is recommended not to wear jewelry very often. Particular care must be taken when handling black opal. In the first hours, it is recommended to exercise maximum vigilance, listen carefully to your own well-being, and if you experience malaise or severe sensations, you should discard the mineral. But under no circumstances should you throw it away or give it to someone! The stronger the stone, the more difficult and longer the attunement takes place. To begin with, leave it for a long period in a dark, closed place. After some time, try again to “make friends” with the black opal. Get used to it gradually. And if contact takes place, you will acquire a reliable assistant and the strongest defender. If your relationship with the stone doesn’t work out, don’t be upset. According to magicians, black opal chooses its owner and does not serve all magicians, not to mention ordinary people who have no experience working with such powerful minerals.
It is not recommended to give opals to anyone - even to those closest to you. It is better to purchase them yourself and only for yourself. Astrologers advise buying this stone during the full moon, because... it is easier to find contact with the mineral. Most astrologers recommend wearing opals only on the middle finger. It is extremely undesirable to wear jewelry with opal constantly without removing it, since even in ancient times, due to its varied colors, the mineral was a symbol of impermanence. It is not recommended to be worn by those involved in business and finance.
Talismans and amulets
Opal amulets protect their owners from the destructive effects of the witchcraft of black magicians, as well as from the evil eye and other energy attacks. In the Ancient East, opal was revered as a most valuable amulet, reliably protecting love and family well-being. The mineral was used to escape disease epidemics, fires and robberies. In Ancient Rome, opal was considered a stone of love and hope. Representatives of many cultures around the world still use this mineral as a talisman.
Opal is the strongest talisman for creative people and practicing magicians. It is believed that a ring with a large white opal set in gold helps to significantly alleviate physical suffering and various pains. White opals also enhance the spirituality of their owners and help them harmonize with the world around them. Jasper imparts modesty and humility. Fiery - protects against natural disasters. It is believed that the energy of an opal set in gold doubles.
A ring with a black opal in a gold frame has always been considered a talisman for magicians, which gives them the gift of foresight.
From the history of opal
The first opal deposit was discovered relatively late and completely by accident - in 1849 on one of the Australian farms. Industrial development began only 40 years later. Since then, the world has become aware of the term “Australian opal fields”. It is in these regions that black opals, which are extremely in demand on the modern jewelry market, are mined. “Flame of the Andamooka Desert” is the largest slab of opal rock, which weighs almost 7 tons!
The extraction of these excellent precious stones was carried out for a long time in the most difficult conditions - miners literally hid underground from the heat of the day and the cold of the night. The desert climate is characterized by significant temperature differences. Added to the sharp temperature regime was a strong wind - scorching hot during the day and cold at night. Opals were mined using a simple shovel and pickaxe.
The depth of the mines ranged from five to forty meters. In fact, all the work was done by hand. The opal-bearing rock was raised to the surface in the most ordinary buckets. It’s surprising, but in some modern opal mines, mining is carried out in exactly the same primitive way. Opal rock is shallow, mining volumes are small, so the cost of modern expensive equipment is most often not justified.
As already mentioned, 97% of all opals mined in the world are of Australian origin. It is not for nothing that opal is the official symbol stone of South Australia, as well as the symbol of the women's national basketball team.
Honore de Balzac - famous French novelist, was born on May 20, 1799 in Tours, died on August 18, 1850 in Paris. At the age of five he was sent to primary school in Tours, and at age 7 he entered the Vendôme Jesuit College, where he stayed for 7 years. In 1814, Balzac moved with his parents to Paris, where he completed his education - first in private boarding schools, and then in Sorbonne, where I listened to lectures with enthusiasm Guizot, Cousin, Willeman. At the same time, he studied law to please his father, who wanted to make him a notary.
Honore de Balzac. Daguerreotype 1842
First literary experience Balzac had a tragedy in verse “Cromwell”, which cost him a lot of work, but turned out to be worthless. After this first failure, he abandoned tragedy and took up the novel. Prompted by material need, he began to write one after another very bad novels, which he sold for several hundred francs to various publishers. Such work for a piece of bread was extremely burdensome to him. The desire to get out of poverty as quickly as possible involved him in several commercial enterprises, which ended in complete ruin for him. He had to liquidate the business, taking on more than 50,000 francs in debt (1828). Subsequently, thanks to new loans to pay interest and other monetary losses, the amount of his debts increased with various fluctuations, and he languished under their burden all his life; Only shortly before his death he finally managed to get rid of his debts. In the early 1820s, Balzac met and became close friends with Madame de Bernis. This woman appeared as the kind genius of his youth during the most difficult years of struggle, hardship and uncertainty. By his own admission, she had a huge influence on both his character and the development of his talent.
Balzac's first novel, which was a resounding success and set him apart from other aspiring writers, was “The Physiology of Marriage” (1829). Since then, his fame has been growing continuously. His fertility and tireless energy are truly amazing. In the same year he published 4 more novels, the next – 11 (“A Thirty-Year-Old Woman”; “Gobsek”, “Shagreen Skin”, etc.); in 1831 – 8, including “Country Doctor”. Now he works even more than before, finishing his works with extraordinary care, redoing what he wrote several times.
Geniuses and villains. Honore de Balzac
Balzac was more than once seduced by the role of a politician. According to their own political views, he was strict legitimist. In 1832, he stood as a candidate for deputy in Angoulême and on this occasion expressed the following program in one private letter: “The destruction of all nobility, with the exception of the House of Peers; separation of the clergy from Rome; natural borders of France; full middle class equality; recognition of true excellence; cost savings; increasing revenues through better tax distribution; education for all."
Having failed in the elections, he took up literature with renewed zeal. 1832 11 new novels were published, among other things: “Louis Lambert”, “The Abandoned Woman”, “Colonel Chabert”. At the beginning of 1833, Balzac entered into correspondence with Countess Hanska. From this correspondence arose a romance that lasted 17 years and ended in marriage a few months before the novelist's death. A monument to this novel is a voluminous volume of letters from Balzac to Madame Ganskaya, later published under the title “Letters to a Stranger.” During these 17 years, Balzac continued to work tirelessly, and in addition to novels, he wrote various articles in magazines. In 1835 he began to publish the magazine “Paris Chronicle” himself; this publication lasted for just over a year and as a result brought him a net deficit of 50,000 francs.
From 1833 to 1838 inclusive, Balzac published 26 stories and novels, among them “Eugenie Grande”, “Père Goriot”, “Seraphite”, “Lily of the Valley”, “Lost Illusions”, “Cesar Birotteau”. In 1838 he again left Paris for several months, this time for commercial purposes. He dreams of a brilliant enterprise that can immediately enrich him; he goes to Sardinia, where he plans to exploit silver mines, known during Roman rule. This enterprise ends in failure, since a more clever businessman took advantage of his idea and blocked his way.
Until 1843, Balzac lived almost constantly in Paris, or in his estate Les Jardies, near Paris, which he bought in 1839 and turned into a new source of constant expenses for him. In August 1843, Balzac went to St. Petersburg for 2 months, where Mrs. Ganskaya was at that time (her husband owned extensive estates in Ukraine). In 1845 and 1846 he traveled twice to Italy, where she and her daughter spent the winter. Urgent work and various urgent obligations forced him to return to Paris and all his efforts were aimed at finally paying off his debts and arranging his affairs, without which he could not accomplish cherished dream all my life - to marry the woman I love. To a certain extent, he succeeded. Balzac spent the winter of 1847 - 1848 in Russia, on the estate of Countess Ganskaya near Berdichev, but a few days before February revolution financial affairs called him to Paris. He remained, however, completely alien political movement and in the fall of 1848 he again went to Russia.
In 1849 - 1847, 28 new novels by Balzac appeared in print (“Ursula Mirue”, “The Country Priest”, “Poor Relatives”, “Cousin Pons”, etc.). Since 1848, he has been working little and publishing almost nothing new. A second trip to Russia turned out to be fatal for him. His body was exhausted by “excessive work; This was joined by a cold, which attacked the heart and lungs and turned into a long, protracted illness. The harsh climate also had a detrimental effect on him and interfered with his recovery. This state, with temporary improvements, lasted until the spring of 1850. On March 14, the marriage of Countess Ganskaya to Balzac finally took place in Berdichev. In April, the couple left Russia and headed to Paris, where they settled in a small hotel, bought by Balzac several years earlier and decorated with artistic luxury. The novelist's health, however, kept deteriorating and finally, on August 18, 1850, after a severe 34-hour agony, he died.
The importance of Balzac in literature is very great: he expanded the scope of the novel and, being one of the main founders realistic And naturalistic currents, showed him new paths, which in many ways he followed until the beginning of the 20th century. His basic view is purely naturalistic: he looks at every phenomenon as the result and interaction of certain conditions, a certain environment. According to this, Balzac's novels are not only a depiction of individual characters, but also a picture of the whole modern society with those basic forces that control him: the general pursuit of the blessings of life, the thirst for profit, honors, position in the world, with all the various struggles of large and small passions. At the same time, he reveals to the reader the entire behind-the-scenes side of this movement in the smallest detail, in his everyday life, which gives his books the character of burning reality. When depicting characters, he highlights one main, predominant trait. According to Faye’s definition, for Balzac, every person is nothing more than “some kind of passion, which is served by the mind and organs and which is counteracted by circumstances.” Thanks to this, his heroes receive extraordinary relief and brightness, and many of them became household names, like the heroes Moliere: thus, Grande became synonymous with stinginess, Goriot with fatherly love, etc. Women occupy a large place in his novels. With all his merciless realism, he always puts a woman on a pedestal, she always stands above those around her, and is a victim of a man’s selfishness. His favorite type is a woman 30–40 years old (“Balzac age”).
The complete works of Balzac were published by himself in 1842 under the general title " Human Comedy”, with a preface where he defines his task as follows: “to give a history and at the same time a criticism of society, an investigation of its ills and a consideration of its beginnings.” One of the first translators of Balzac into Russian was the great Dostoevsky(his translation of “Eugenia Grande”, made before hard labor).
(For essays on other French writers, see the “More on topic” block below the article text.)
The father of the future writer was a peasant from Languedoc, who managed to make a career during the French bourgeois revolution and get rich. The mother was much younger than the father (even outlived his son) and also came from a wealthy family of a Parisian cloth merchant.
The surname Balzac was taken by the father of the future writer after the revolution; the real family name was the surname Balsa.
Education
The writer's father, who became an assistant to the mayor of the city of Tours, dreamed of making his son a lawyer. He sent him first to the College of Vendôme, and then to the Paris School of Law.
Honore didn't like it right away at Vendôme College. He studied poorly and could not establish contact with teachers. Contact with family during study was prohibited, and living conditions were excessively harsh. At the age of 14, Honore became seriously ill and was sent home. He never returned to college, graduating in absentia.
Even before his illness, Honore became interested in literature. He voraciously read the works of Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Holbach. Even after entering the Paris School of Law, Honore did not give up his dream of becoming a writer.
Early creativity
Since 1823, Balzac began to write. His first novels were written in the spirit of romanticism. The author himself considered them unsuccessful and tried not to remember them.
From 1825 to 1828, Balzac tried to get into publishing, but failed.
Success
According to a short biography of Honore de Balzac, the writer was a real workaholic. He worked 15 hours a day and published 5-6 novels per year. Gradually fame began to come to him.
Balzac wrote about what surrounded him: about the life of Paris and the French provinces, about the life of the poor and aristocrats. His novels were rather philosophical short stories, revealing the full depth of the world that existed in France at that time. social contradictions and heaviness social problems. Gradually Balzac combined all the novels he wrote into one big cycle, which he called the “Human Comedy”. The cycle is divided into three parts: “Etudes on Morals” (this part, for example, included the novel “The Splendor and Poverty of Courtesans”), “Philosophical Etudes” (this included the novel “Shagreen Skin”), “Analytical Etudes” (this part the author included partly autobiographical works, such as “Louis Lambert”).
In 1845, Balzac was awarded the Legion of Honor.
Personal life
The writer’s personal life did not take shape until he entered into correspondence (at first anonymous) with the Polish aristocrat Countess Ewelina Hanska. She was married to a very rich landowner who had large lands in Ukraine.
A feeling flared up between Balzac and Countess Ganskaya, but even after the death of her husband, she did not dare to become the writer’s legal wife, because she was afraid of losing her husband’s inheritance, which she wanted to pass on to her only daughter.
Death of a Writer
Only in 1850, Balzac, who, by the way, stayed with his beloved for a long time, visiting Kyiv, Vinnitsa, Chernigov and other cities of Ukraine with her, and Evelina were able to officially get married. But their happiness was short-lived, since immediately upon returning to his homeland the writer fell ill and died of gangrene, which developed against the background of pathological vascular arthritis.
The writer was buried with all possible honors. It is known that during the funeral his coffin was carried in turn by all the prominent literary figures of France of that time, including Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo.
Other biography options
- Balzac became very popular in Russia during his lifetime, although the authorities were wary of the writer’s work. Despite this, he was allowed to enter Russia. The writer visited St. Petersburg and Moscow several times: in 1837, 1843, 1848 -1850. He was received very warmly. At one of these meetings between the writer and readers, young F. Dostoevsky was present, who, after a conversation with the writer, decided to translate the novel “Eugenia Grande” into Russian. This was the first literary translation and the first publication made by the future classic of Russian literature.
- Balzac loved coffee. He drank about 50 cups of coffee a day.
Honore de Balzac (born May 20, 1799, Tours - died August 18, 1850, Paris) - French writer. His real name was Honore Balzac, the particle “de” meaning belonging to a noble family, he began to use it around 1830.
French writer who recreated the complete picture public life of its time. Born May 20, 1799 in Tours; his relatives, peasants by origin, came from southern France (Languedoc). His father changed his original surname Balssa when he arrived in Paris in 1767 and began a long bureaucratic career there, which he continued in Tours from 1798, holding a number of administrative positions. The particle “de” was added to the name by his son Honore in 1830, claiming noble origin. Balzac spent six years (1806-1813) as a boarder at the College of Vendôme, completing his education in Tours and Paris, where the family returned in 1814. After working for three years (1816-1819) as a clerk in a judge's office, he convinced his parents to allow him to try his luck in literature . Between 1819 × 1824 Honoré published (under a pseudonym) half a dozen novels, written under the influence of J. J. Rousseau, W. Scott and “horror novels.” In collaboration with various literary hacks, he published many novels of an overtly commercial nature.
Architecture is an exponent of morals.
Balzac Honore de
In 1822, his relationship with forty-five-year-old Madame de Bernis began (d. 1836). The initially passionate feeling emotionally enriched him; later their relationship turned platonic, and Lily in the Valley (Le Lys dans la vallée, 1835-1836) gave highest degree the perfect picture of this friendship.
An attempt to make a fortune in publishing and printing (1826-1828) involved Balzac in large debts. Turning again to writing, in 1829 he published the novel The Last Shuan (Le dernier Shouan; revised and published in 1834 under the title Les Chouans). This was the first book to be published under his own name, along with a humorous manual for husbands, The Physiology of Marriage (La Physiologie du mariage, 1829), it attracted public attention to the new author. That's when it started main work his life: in 1830 the first Scenes of Private Life (Scènes de la vie privée) appeared, with the undoubted masterpiece The House of a Cat Playing Ball (La Maison du chat qui pelote), in 1831 the first Philosophical Tales and Stories (Contes philosophiques) appeared. For several more years, Balzac worked part-time as a freelance journalist, but from 1830 to 1848 his main efforts were devoted to an extensive cycle of novels and stories known to the world as La Comédie humaine.
Balzac concluded the agreement to publish the first series of Etudes on Morals (Études de moeurs, 1833-1837) when many volumes (12 in total) were not yet completed or had just begun, since he used to first sell the finished work for publication in periodicals, then release it as a separate book and, finally, included in one or another collection. The sketches consisted of Scenes - private, provincial, Parisian, political, military and village life. Scenes of private life, devoted mainly to youth and its inherent problems, were not tied to specific circumstances and place; but scenes of provincial, Parisian and village life were played out in a precisely defined environment, which is one of the most characteristic and original features Human Comedy.
In addition to his desire to depict the social history of France, Balzac intended to diagnose society and offer remedies to treat its ills. This goal is clearly felt throughout the cycle, but occupies a central place in the Philosophical Etudes (Études philosophiques), the first collection of which was published between 1835 × 1837. The Etudes on Morals were supposed to present “effects”, and the Philosophical Etudes were to identify “causes”. Balzac's philosophy is a curious combination of scientific materialism, theosophy of E. Swedenborg and other mystics, physiognomy of I. K. Lavater, phrenology of F. J. Gall, magnetism of F. A. Mesmer and occultism. All this was combined, sometimes in a very unconvincing way, with official Catholicism and political conservatism, in support of which Balzac openly spoke out. Two aspects of this philosophy are of particular importance to his work: first, a deep belief in "second sight", a mysterious property that gives its owner the ability to recognize or guess facts or events that he did not witness (Balzac considered himself extremely gifted in this attitude); secondly, based on the views of Mesmer, the concept of thought as a kind of “ethereal substance” or “fluid”. Thought consists of will and feeling, and man projects it into the world, giving it more or less impulse. This is where the idea of destructive force thoughts: it contains vital energy, the accelerated waste of which brings death closer. This is clearly illustrated by magical symbolism Shagreen leather(La Peau de chagrin, 1831).
The third main section of the cycle was supposed to be Analytical Etudes (Études analytiques), devoted to “principles,” but Balzac never made clear his intentions in this regard; in fact, he completed only two volumes from the series of these Etudes: the half-serious, half-joking Physiology of Marriage and the Minor Troubles of Married Life (Petites misères de la vie conjugale, 1845-1846).
Balzac defined the main contours of his ambitious plan in the fall of 1834 and then consistently filled in the cells of the intended scheme. Allowing himself to be distracted, he wrote, in imitation of Rabelais, a series of funny, albeit obscene, “medieval” stories called Mischievous Stories (Contes drolatiques, 1832-1837), which were not included in the Human Comedy. A title for the ever-expanding cycle was found in 1840 or 1841, and a new edition, first bearing this title, began to appear in 1842. It retained the same principle of division as in the Études 1833-1837, but Balzac added to it a "preface" ", in which he explained his goals. The so-called "definitive edition" of 1869-1876 included Mischievous Stories, Theater (Théâtre) and a number of letters.
Nobility of feelings is not always accompanied by nobility of manners.
Balzac Honore de
There is no consensus in criticism as to how accurately the writer managed to portray the French aristocracy, although he himself was proud of his knowledge of the world. Having little interest in artisans and factory workers, he achieved, by all accounts, the highest persuasiveness in his descriptions of various representatives of the middle class: office workers - Officials (Les Employés), judicial clerks and lawyers - The Case of Guardianship (L'Interdiction, 1836), Colonel Chabet (Le Colonel Chabert, 1832); financiers - Nucingen Banking House (La Maison Nucingen, 1838); journalists - Lost illusions (Illusions perdues, 1837-1843); small manufacturers and traders - History of the greatness and fall of Cesar Birotteau (Histoire de la grandeur et decadence de César Birotteau, 1837). Among the Scenes of Private Life dedicated to feelings and passions, the Abandoned Woman (La Femme abandonnée), The Thirty-Year-Old Woman (La Femme de trente ans, 1831-1834), and The Daughter of Eve (Une Fille d’Ève, 1838) stand out. In Scenes of Provincial Life, not only the atmosphere of small towns is recreated, but also the painful “storms in a glass of water” are depicted that disrupt the peaceful flow of everyday life - The Priest of Tours (Le Curé de Tours, 1832), Eugénie Grandet (1833), Pierrette (Pierrette, 1840). The novels Ursule Mirouët and La Rabouilleuse (1841-1842) depict violent family feuds over inheritance. But the human community appears even darker in Scenes of Parisian Life. Balzac loved Paris and did a lot to preserve the memory of the now forgotten streets and corners of the French capital. At the same time, he considered this city a hellish abyss and compared the “struggle for life” taking place here with wars on the prairies, as one of his favorite authors, F. Cooper, depicted them in his novels. Most Interest from Scenes of Political Life represents a Dark Affair (Une Ténébreuse Affaire, 1841), where the figure of Napoleon appears for a moment. Scenes of military life (Scènes de la vie militaire) include only two works: the novel by Chouan and the story Passion in the Desert (Une Passion dans le désert, 1830) - Balzac intended to significantly supplement them. Scenes of village life (Scènes de la vie de campagne) are generally devoted to the description of the dark and predatory peasantry, although in such novels as the Country Doctor (Le Médecin de campagne, 1833) and the Country Priest (Le Curé de village, 1839), a significant place devoted to the presentation of political, economic and religious views.
