Honor? de Balzac; born Honor? Balzac 20 May 1799 - 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence La Com?die humaine, which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his magnum opus. Owing to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multi-faceted characters; even...