List of La Comédie humaine characters

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The following is a list of characters from La Comédie humaine a collection of 95 loosely connected novels satirically detailing the life and times of French society in the period after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)—namely the period of the Restoration (1815–1830) and the July Monarchy (1830–1848). French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), over the course of these novels, invents a plethora of unique and memorable characters.

Major characters[]

Recurring characters[]

  • Eugène de Rastignac - student, dandy, financier, politician (appears in 28 works)
  • Lucien Chardon de Rubempré (the use of "de Rubempré" is contested) - journalist, parvenu
  • Jacques Colin aka Carlos Herrera aka Vautrin aka Trompe-la-Mort - a criminal run away from hard labour
  • Camusot - examining magistrate (The Collection of Antiquities, A Commission in Lunacy, Scenes from a Courtesan's Life; his father also appears in A Distinguished Provincial at Paris)
  • Blondet, Emile - journalist, man of letters, prefect (The Collection of Antiquities, A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Scenes from a Courtesan's Life). Compare and contrast with Raoul Nathan.
  • Raoul Nathan - in 19 works, writer, politician
  • Daniel d'Arthez
  • Delphine de Nucingen née Goriot
  • Roger de Granville
  • Louis Lambert
  • la duchesse de Langeais
  • la comtesse de Mortsauf
  • Jean-Jacques Bixiou - in 19 works, artist
  • Joseph Bridau - in 13 works, painter
  • Marquis de Ronquerolles - in 20 works
  • la comtesse Hugret de Sérisy - in 20 works
  • Félix-Amédée de Vandenesse
  • Horace Bianchon - in 24 works, doctor
  • des Lupeaulx - public servant
  • Salon leaders: the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, the Marquise d'Espard
  • Dandies: Maxime de Trailles, Henri de Marsay
  • Courtesans: La Torpille (Esther van Gobseck),
  • Financiers: Ferdinand du Tillet, Frédérick de Nucingen (a thin fictionalization of James Rothschild), Keller brothers
  • Actresses: Florine (Sophie Grignault), Coralie,
  • Publishers/Journalists/Critics: Finot, Etienne Lousteau, Felicien Vernou
  • Money lenders: Jean-Esther van Gobseck, Bidault aka Gigonnet

Characters who appear in several titles but only significantly in one of them.

  • Birotteau
  • Goriot

Characters in a single volume[]

  • Raphaël de Valentin
  • le baron Hulot
  • Balthazar Claës
  • Grandet
  • le cousin Pons

Heraldry[]

Balzac created fictional coats of arms for many of the characters in the novels. They have later been illustrated and collected in the (1963).

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