Ewelina Hańska Ewelina Hańska Eveline Hańska (Ewelina, née Rzewuska, 6 January c. 1805 – 11 April 1882) was a Polish noblewoman best known for her marriage to French novelist Honoré de Balzac. Born at the Wierzchownia estate in Volhynia, (now Ukraine) Hańska married landowner Wacław Hański (Wenceslas Hanski) when she was a teenager. Hański, who was about 20 years her senior, suffered from depression. They had five children, but only a daughter, Anna, survived. In the late 1820s, Hańska began reading Balzac's novels, and in 1832, she sent him an anonymous letter. This began a decades-long correspondence in which Hańska and Balzac
Pierre Benoit (novelist) Pierre Benoit (novelist) Pierre Benoit (16 July 1886 - 3 March 1962) was a French novelist and member of the Académie française. Pierre Benoit, born in Albi (southern France) was the son of a French soldier. Benoit spent his early years and military service in Northern Africa, before becoming a civil servant. His first novel, "Koenigsmark", was published in 1918; "L'Atlantide" was published the next year and was awarded the Grand Prize of the Académie française. Benoit became a member of the Académie in 1931. A political right-winger, Benoit was an admirer of the French fascist Charles Maurras. During the