House's Balzac - quiz moment !
House's Balzac - quiz moment !
Embedded Files
Did you know? Honoré de Balzac was riddled with debt. He ran away from his creditors under false names in different homes. And since the money he earned from his pen wasn't enough to pay his debts, he was constantly dreaming up dazzling projects: a printing house, a newspaper, a silver mine, and so on. It was in a palace on rue Fortunée that he died, deeply in debt amid unprecedented luxury.
What trick did Balzac use to evade his creditors? (Multiple answers possible)
What trick did Balzac use to evade his creditors? (Multiple answers possible)
a) Balzac called himself his governess
b) A secret door to escape if the creditors arrived
c) He lived itinerantly, moving from friend's house to friend's house
Answers a) and b)
The house where the creditors went was carefully chosen by the author: equipped with two doors, it allowed the author to flee at the slightest noise!
"Write to me at the following address: monsieur de Breugnol, rue Basse, numéro 19 à Passy près Paris", Balzac confided to his friend Mme Hanska, in a letter of 1840.
The writer had got himself into quite a mess!
Pursued by his creditors, homeless after the seizure of his house at Les Jardies in Sèvres, Balzac had moved under a false name (that of his governess) to this small house on rue Raynouard.
He lived there for 7 years, during which time he wrote the final part of La Comédie humaine.
The author even stole his particle! From his real name Honoré Balzac, the author took to adding the particle "de" to give himself an air of nobility...
You can visit Balzac's house on the 47 rue Raynouard, Paris
Photo credits : Wikipédia
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse