Memorial Plate for Honoré de Balzac

The memorial plate for Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) to commemorate his visit to Tauragė was opened on 10 October 2013 on the wall of Tauragė Post Office. Honoré de Balzac stopped for a half of a day at Tauragė Postal Station on 10 October 1843, returning from St. Petersburg to Paris by coach. After having some breakfast at an inn, he wrote a letter to his beloved Polish Noblewoman and widow Eveline Hańska (1801-1882), whom he married in Ukraine in 1850. The copy of his only letter, written in Lithuania, is kept at Tauragė Regional Museum, while the original is at the Castle Lovenjoul, which belongs to a fan of O. de Balzac and is located not far from Paris. The text is printed in the book Honoré de Balzac: Letters to Madame Hanska (Paris, 1968, vol. II, p. 254-255).
In his letter, the famous writer wrote that he enjoyed the little town of Tauragė, because he had an excellent meal at the local inn and significantly revived his spirits after an exhausting journey. That was indicated in the letter, stating that upon rising from the table O. de Balzac exclaimed “Long live Tauragė and its famous family!” The writer referred to the owners of the inn.
The name of Tauragė is mentioned in his letters four times: in the letter from Tauragė of 10 October 1843, then the letter that he wrote on his way from Berlin, a letter, written on 7 November of the same year, and a letter from Kiev, written in 1847.
Honoré de Balzac, one of the most famous masters of realistic novel of the 19th c. in Western Europe was born on 20 May 1799 in Tours, France. He studied Law, worked in a law and notary office, but decided to become a writer. Literature was his purpose in life and source of income. He used to write about life in France back in the day, with all of the smallest details and no idealisation. His novel series La Comédie Humaine features the widest view of the French society from 1815 to 1848. The writer died on 18 August 1850 in Paris.

Compiled in 2018