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Gustave Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821, in Rouen, Seine-Inférieure, France. His father was a medical doctor who practiced surgery at Hôtel-Dieu in Rouen, where Flaubert was born. His mother came from an aristocratic Norman family. Flaubert received a quality private education with a focus on literature. In 1840, he attended law school in Paris, where he met Victor Hugo and decided to pursue a career as a writer. In 1846, after likely suffering from a nervous illness, he left Paris and abandoned his law studies. Between 1846 and 1854, he had an affair with the poet Louise Colet, his only romantic relationship, and he never married. Flaubert traveled extensively across Europe and Africa, drawing inspiration for his works from his experiences in Greece, Egypt, and Tunisia.
Flaubert's first major work, 'The Temptation of St. Anthony' (1849), was initially rejected by his friends Louis Bouilhet and Maxime du Camp, delaying its publication. From 1850 to 1856, he worked on 'Madame Bovary,' which was published in 1856. That year, Flaubert and his publisher were charged with immorality by the French government but were ultimately acquitted. In 1862, he released 'Salammbô,' which inspired the opera of the same name by Modest Mussorgsky. During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Prussian soldiers occupied Flaubert's home, leading to a nervous breakdown. The death of his mother in 1872 plunged him into depression, during which he received support from his close friend Ivan Turgenev, a Russian writer of means living in Europe. Flaubert also maintained a correspondence friendship with George Sand. Following the trauma of war and his mother's death, Flaubert lived an ascetic life, rarely visiting Paris as his health declined. He died on May 8, 1880, at his mother's home in Croisset and was buried in the Flaubert family vault in Rouen cemetery.
Jean-Paul Sartre's comprehensive biography of Flaubert is regarded as definitive. His correspondence with George Sand and Ivan Turgenev has been extensively studied as valuable historical and literary material. Flaubert's works have been translated into many languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. His classic novel 'Madame Bovary' has been adapted for film and television more than ten times, with the 1991 adaptation starring Isabelle Huppert receiving an Oscar nomination.
