(*December 12, 1821 – †May 8, 1880)
A French writer, perhaps one of the most significant figures of literary realism, a romantic at heart, and a rebel in his youth. Works such as Salambo and Madame Bovary brought Gustave such fame during his lifetime that he was personally introduced to the then French Emperor Napoleon III and was also named a Knight of the Legion of Honor (France’s highest state decoration). In his works, he shapes characters with incredible psychological depth, while maintaining a certain distance from them as the author. In his writing, Flaubert is a perfectionist who yearns for the so-called “pure style,” for which he is willing to search to the point of exhaustion for “le mot juste,” the exact word.
He was born in Rouen to a relatively well-to-do family. His father, a doctor, held the position of chief surgeon at the local hospital. Gustave’s mother was the daughter of a doctor, so her son received a good education from early childhood. From childhood, he had a penchant for literature; at the age of thirteen, he even founded a magazine with a friend. This amusing amateur endeavor was the first sign of a great career to come. At the age of 25 (1836), he met Elisa Schlesinger, the wife of a German music publisher, who was 11 years his senior. Elisa awakened in him a love that he himself nurtured for endless years, though she did not return it. Flaubert later described his affection for Elisa, which influenced his entire love life, in the novel L’Éducation sentimentale (1869) a full 33 years after their first meeting.