Gustave Flaubert

Flaubert was born in December 12, 1821, in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, in the Haute-Normandie Region of France. Studying law in Paris, he was a lackluster student but made a few acquaintances, including Victor Hugo. After finishing his study of law he returned to Croisset, close to Rouen, to live with his mother. Their home near the Seine became Flaubert's home for the rest of his life. Flaubert never married. From 1846 to 1854, he had an affair with the poet Louise Colet According to his biographer Émile Faguet, his affair with Louise Colet was his only serious romantic relationship. In 1850, after returning from Egypt, Flaubert began work on Madame Bovary. The novel, which took five years to write. The government brought an action against the publisher and against the author on the charge of immorality, but both were acquitted. The 1870s, however, were difficult. Prussian soldiers occupied his house during the War of 1870, and in 1872, his mother died. After her death, he fell into financial straits. His health declined and he died at Croisset of a stroke in 1880 at age 58. He was buried in the family vault in the cemetery of Rouen.