This Wikipedia entry examines the life and professional journey of Honoré de Balzac, the influential French author credited with pioneering literary realism. The text details his difficult upbringing and failed business ventures, which eventually informed the gritty, detailed nature of his famous novel sequence, La Comédie humaine. His prolific writing habits and focus on moral ambiguity transformed how characters and urban settings were portrayed in fiction. The documentation covers his complex personal history, including a long-distance romance and eventual marriage to Ewelina Hańska shortly before his death. Furthermore, the source outlines his immense legacy, noting his profound impact on legendary writers such as Charles Dickens and Marcel Proust. A comprehensive list of his diverse bibliography illustrates his transition from a struggling pseudonymous writer to a celebrated master of the novel.