47 moments

1. Wet-nurse childhood

   1799-01-01 · Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, Indre-et-Loire, France

   As an infant, Balzac was placed with a wet nurse at Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire and remained there for about four years. The exact date on which he was placed with the wet nurse is not stated; 1799 is supported only as his birth year.

2. Birth in Tours

   1799-05-20 · Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France

   Honoré de Balzac was born in Tours.

3. Pension Le Guay schooling

   1804-01-01 · Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France

   Balzac attended the Pension Le Guay in Tours as an external pupil from 1804 to 1807. Attendance continued through 1807.

4. Oratorian boarding school

   1807-06-01 · Collège de Vendôme, Vendôme, Loir-et-Cher, France

   

   Balzac became a boarder at the Oratorian-directed collège in Vendôme, where his formative school years informed later fiction. The source states that he returned to his family in April 1813.

5. Paris boarding school

   1813-01-01 · Marais, Paris, France

   A few months after returning to his family, Balzac left Touraine to board at Ganser's establishment in Paris's Marais district. The source gives only a relative date after April 1813.

6. Return to family

   1813-04-01 · Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France

   After leaving the Vendôme school, Balzac returned to his family. The source identifies the family return but does not explicitly name the residence in this sentence; Tours is used because the preceding section places the family there.

7. Family relocation to Paris

   1814-11-01 · Paris, France

   Balzac returned with his family to Paris, where he continued his education at several institutions including the Lycée Charlemagne.

8. Law faculty and legal clerkship

   1816-11-01 · Faculty of Law, Paris, France

   Balzac enrolled in the Paris law faculty while beginning work as a clerk in the office of avoué Guillonnet-Merville. Coordinates represent the historic Latin Quarter law-faculty area rather than a surviving exact office site.

9. Notary-clerk employment

   1818-04-01 · Paris, France

   Balzac was working as a notary's clerk for Édouard-Victor Passez, an experience that informed his depictions of Parisian legal and family affairs. The exact address of Passez's office is not established by the cited source.

10. Garret in Rue Lesdiguières

    1819-04-01 · 9 rue Lesdiguières, Paris, France

    With his family's move to Villeparisis, Balzac began his attempted literary career from a rented garret at 9 rue Lesdiguières in Paris. The source situates this arrangement after his father's retirement on 31 March 1819.

11. Villeparisis relationship

    1822-01-01 · Villeparisis, Seine-et-Marne, France

    

    At Villeparisis, Balzac met Laure de Berny, beginning a relationship that lasted several years and strongly influenced his early life. The first surviving letter in their correspondence is dated March 1822; the meeting itself is not more precisely dated.

12. Recurring refuge at Château de Saché

    1825-01-01 · Château de Saché, Saché, Indre-et-Loire, France

    Balzac began a pattern of visits to the Château de Saché, a refuge from creditors and a major working retreat he visited repeatedly through 1848. The source gives a visit range rather than the precise date of his first stay.

13. Brittany research stay

    1828-01-01 · Near Fougères, Ille-et-Vilaine, France

    After his business collapse, Balzac travelled to Brittany and stayed with the De Pommereul family near Fougères, drawing material for Les Chouans. The cited biography does not supply a more precise date; 1828 follows the documented business collapse.

14. First border crossing to Aix-les-Bains

    1832-01-01 · Aix-les-Bains, Savoie, France

    Balzac made his first journey beyond France to join the Marquise de Castries at Aix-les-Bains, then in the Kingdom of Sardinia. Only the year is supplied.

15. Extended Saché stay

    1832-06-08 · Château de Saché, Saché, Indre-et-Loire, France

    Balzac returned to Saché for more than a month, working intensely on Louis Lambert while directing his Paris financial affairs by correspondence. He left Saché for Tours on 16 July 1832 according to the same source.

16. Geneva visit after Castries journey

    1832-10-01 · Geneva, Switzerland

    Balzac was in Geneva during his unsuccessful pursuit of the Marquise de Castries and left the city at the end of October. The source supports late October but not a specific day.

17. First meeting with Ewelina Hańska

    1833-01-01 · Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Balzac met Countess Ewelina Hańska at Neuchâtel, beginning the in-person phase of the relationship that culminated in their marriage in 1850. The source places the meeting at the end of 1833 without a precise date.

18. Geneva winter with Hańska

    1833-01-01 · Geneva, Switzerland

    Balzac stayed in Geneva during the winter of 1833-1834, when he and Ewelina Hańska became lovers. The visit spans the winter of 1833-1834; the card is dated to its opening year.

19. Saché literary retreat

    1834-01-01 · Château de Saché, Saché, Indre-et-Loire, France

    Following the publication of La Recherche de l'absolu, Balzac spent several weeks at Saché to recover and work on Le Père Goriot, Séraphîta, and César Birotteau proofs. The source links the stay to the September 1834 publication of La Recherche de l'absolu but does not provide exact arrival and departure dates.

20. Inspection of Wagram battlefield

    1835-05-01 · Battlefield of Wagram, Deutsch-Wagram, Lower Austria, Austria

    While on the Vienna journey, Balzac visited the Wagram battlefield with General Schwarzenberg for projected military scenes in his fiction. The battlefield visit occurred during his 9 May-4 June 1835 Vienna journey.

21. Visit to Vienna

    1835-05-01 · Vienna, Austria

    Balzac travelled from Paris to Vienna to join Hańska, obtained an audience with Metternich, and remained until early June. The source gives departure from Paris on 9 May and departure from Vienna on 4 June, but not the exact arrival date.

22. Italian mission to Turin

    1836-01-01 · Turin, Piedmont, Italy

    Acting for the Guidoboni-Visconti family, Balzac travelled to Turin to handle a legal dispute, a journey that introduced him to Italy. The cited source identifies the year through surrounding 1836 chronology but does not provide exact travel dates.

23. June retreat at Saché

    1836-06-01 · Château de Saché, Saché, Indre-et-Loire, France

    Soon after winning his case against François Buloz, Balzac withdrew to the Indre Valley and began writing the first part of Illusions perdues at Saché.

24. Return from Turin journey

    1836-08-22 · Paris, France

    Balzac was back in Paris from his Italian journey by 22 August 1836, when he received news of Madame de Berny's death. The source directly establishes his return but does not explicitly name Paris in this sentence; Paris is the documented base from which the journey departed and to which he returned.

25. Second Italian journey: Florence

    1837-01-01 · Florence, Tuscany, Italy

    Balzac visited Florence during his 1837 Italian journey and visited the Pitti collections there. The source does not provide a date for the individual Florence stop.

26. Second Italian journey: Genoa

    1837-01-01 · Genoa, Liguria, Italy

    Balzac stopped in Genoa during his 1837 Italian journey, where he met the merchant connected with his later Sardinian mining scheme. The wider passage dates the Italian journey from March to 3 May 1837, but not the Genoa stop precisely.

27. Second Italian journey: Venice

    1837-01-01 · Venice, Veneto, Italy

    During his second Italian journey, Balzac visited Venice for the first time; its lasting impression later informed Massimilla Doni. The source does not provide a date for the individual Venice stop.

28. Second Italian journey: Milan

    1837-03-01 · Milan, Lombardy, Italy

    Balzac's second Italian journey began in March 1837; he stopped at Milan before continuing through northern and central Italy. The source gives March as the journey's beginning but does not date the individual Milan stop.

29. Late-August recovery at Saché

    1837-08-01 · Château de Saché, Saché, Indre-et-Loire, France

    After months in Italy, Balzac returned to Saché for ten days to recover from chest inflammation. The source specifies late August but not exact days.

30. Ajaccio stop en route to Sardinia

    1838-01-01 · Ajaccio, Corsica, France

    On the Sardinian expedition, Balzac crossed to Ajaccio and waited there for a boat to Sardinia. The biography does not give the exact date of the Ajaccio stop.

31. Milan stay after Sardinia

    1838-01-01 · Milan, Lombardy, Italy

    After the failed Sardinian venture, Balzac travelled on to Italy and made a long stay in Milan while working for the Visconti family's interests. The cited chapter places this stay after the 1838 Sardinian expedition but does not date it more precisely.

32. Sardinian mining expedition

    1838-01-01 · Sardinia, Italy

    Balzac travelled to Sardinia to investigate former Roman silver-mining slag heaps, but found that others had already secured the mining rights. Coordinates are a representative point for the island because the cited source does not identify the exact mining locality.

33. Visit with George Sand

    1838-02-24 · Nohant-Vic, Indre, France

    Balzac stayed with George Sand at Nohant from 24 February to 2 March 1838, during a journey through Berry. The immediately preceding sentence identifies the place as Nohant.

34. Departure for Sardinian venture

    1838-03-15 · Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

    Balzac left by coach for Marseille to pursue a mining speculation in Sardinia. The statement proves travel toward Marseille on this date; it does not provide an exact arrival date.

35. Residence at Les Jardies

    1838-07-01 · Les Jardies, Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine, France

    Balzac took up residence at Les Jardies, his property in Sèvres, while retaining a Paris pied-à-terre.

36. Passy residence

    1840-01-01 · Maison de Balzac, 47 rue Raynouard, Paris, France

    

    After abandoning Les Jardies, Balzac rented the house in Passy now known as the Maison de Balzac and remained there until 1847. The preceding chronology places the move after he was forced to abandon Les Jardies in late August 1840.

37. Saint Petersburg stay

    1843-07-01 · Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Balzac travelled to Saint Petersburg to rejoin Ewelina Hańska and remained there from late July until 25 September 1843. The preceding sentence identifies Saint Petersburg as the destination; the exact arrival day is not stated.

38. Arrival to join Hańska in Dresden

    1845-05-01 · Dresden, Saxony, Germany

    Balzac went to Dresden to join Ewelina Hańska and then travelled around Europe with her, her daughter, and Georges Mniszech.

39. Embarkation for Naples

    1845-11-01 · Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

    Balzac and the Hańska party embarked at Marseille for Naples during their European travels. The source gives the month, not the day.

40. Naples voyage

    1845-11-01 · Naples, Campania, Italy

    Balzac travelled from Marseille to Naples with Ewelina Hańska and her family party. The wording establishes the voyage destination but does not state the exact arrival date.

41. Witness at Anna Hańska's wedding

    1846-10-11 · Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany

    Balzac attended Anna Hańska's wedding at Wiesbaden as a witness during another year of travel through Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. The surrounding paragraph establishes the year as 1846.

42. Wierzchownia stay

    1847-09-01 · Verkhivnia Park, Verkhivnia, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine

    Balzac remained at Wierzchownia until the end of January 1848, completing L'Initié and beginning several unfinished works. The preceding sentence identifies the location as Wierzchownia.

43. Arrival at Wierzchownia

    1847-09-13 · Verkhivnia Park, Verkhivnia, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine

    Balzac travelled by rail toward Ukraine and arrived at Ewelina Hańska's Wierzchownia estate eight days after leaving on 5 September. The date is calculated directly from the sourced 5 September departure and 'eight days later' arrival.

44. Return to Wierzchownia

    1848-09-19 · Verkhivnia Park, Verkhivnia, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine

    Balzac departed again for Wierzchownia, leaving literary-contract negotiations in Paris to his friend Laurent-Jan. The statement proves his departure for Wierzchownia on this date; exact arrival is not supplied.

45. Marriage at St Barbara's Church

    1850-03-14 · St Barbara's Catholic Church, Berdychiv, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine

    Balzac and Ewelina Hańska travelled from Verkhivnia Park to Berdychiv and were married at St Barbara's Catholic Church.

46. Return to Paris after marriage

    1850-05-20 · Paris, France

    Balzac and his new wife reached Paris after their difficult return journey from Ukraine; the date was Balzac's fifty-first birthday.

47. Death in Rue Fortunée townhouse

    1850-08-18 · Rue Balzac, Paris, France

    

    Balzac died in his Paris townhouse on rue Fortunée, now rue Balzac, after a final period of severe illness.