Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was a French novelist and playwright. Balzac made attempts at many professions, including publishing, business, politics, and law, before he found his best fit as a writer. He soon became known for his legendary writing habits, as he wrote every day, but kept a nearly nocturnal schedule to comply with his odd writing practices. Because of his attention to detail and unfiltered representation of reality, Balzac is regarded as the founder of realism within the European literary canon.