# Shorts from Scenes from Private Life — Character guide

> Key figures in Shorts from Scenes from Private Life by Honoré de Balzac.

- [Ginevra di Piombo](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/ginevra_di_piombo.md): A proud Corsican woman who defies her father for love.
- [Emilie de Fontaine](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/emilie_de_fontaine.md): A haughty young noblewoman who learns humility through love.
- [Gaston de Nueil](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/gaston_de_nueil.md): A young baron who falls in love with a mysterious woman.
- [Augustine Guillaume](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/augustine_guillaume.md): A naive young woman married off for business reasons.
- [Hippolyte Schinner](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/hippolyte_schinner.md): A talented painter who discovers love and betrayal.
- [Derville](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/derville.md): A shrewd lawyer involved in several clients' dramatic lives.
- [Pierre Grassou](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/pierre_grassou.md): A mediocre painter who achieves success through persistence.
- [Honorine](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/honorine.md): A countess who fled her marriage seeking independence.
- [Colonel Chabert](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/colonel_chabert.md): A presumed-dead Napoleonic colonel fighting to reclaim his identity.
- [Popinot](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/popinot.md): A compassionate judge who uncovers a family's dark secrets.
- [Madame de Beauséant](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/madame_de_beauseant.md): A noblewoman who retreats from society after heartbreak.
- [Adam Laginski](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/adam_laginski.md): A Polish count living in Paris with a hidden passion.
- [Clémentine Laginski](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/clementine_laginski.md): The beautiful and virtuous wife of Count Adam.
- [Madame Firmiani](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/madame_firmiani.md): A mysterious and virtuous woman who inspires devotion.
- [Martial de la Roche-Hugon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/martial_de_la_roche_hugon.md): A baron entangled in a scandalous domestic situation.
- [Horace Bianchon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/horace_bianchon.md): A brilliant and kind doctor who appears in several stories.
- [Paz](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/paz.md): A devoted Polish friend who secretly loves Clémentine.
- [Thaddeus of Warsaw](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/thaddeus_of_warsaw.md): A Polish exile living in Paris with a tragic past.
- [Gobseck](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/gobseck.md): A miserly usurer who controls the fates of his clients.
- [Caroline Crochard](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/caroline_crochard.md): A young woman who becomes a baron's mistress.
- [Bartolomeo di Piombo](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/bartolomeo_di_piombo.md): A fierce Corsican father who values family honor above all.
- [Eugène de Rastignac](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/eugene_de_rastignac.md): An ambitious young nobleman navigating Parisian society.
- [Comtesse de Merret](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/comtesse_de_merret.md): A countess whose secret past is revealed after her death.
- [Comte de Fontaine](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/comte_de_fontaine.md): A royalist father concerned with his daughters' marriages.
- [Guillaume](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/guillaume.md): A draper who arranges his daughters' marriages for profit.
- [Louis-Gaston](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/louis_gaston.md): The son of Gaston de Nueil and his abandoned wife.
- [Desplein](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/desplein.md): A famous surgeon who hides a secret act of charity.
- [Colonel Luigi](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/colonel_luigi.md): A Corsican colonel seeking vengeance for his family.
- [Monsieur Roger](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/monsieur_roger.md): A gentleman involved in a tragic love affair.
- [Madame d'Espard](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/madame_despard.md): A manipulative noblewoman who schemes against her husband.
- [Malaga](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/malaga.md): A dancer and courtesan in the Parisian demimonde.
- [Madame Willemsens](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/madame_willemsens.md): A mysterious woman living in seclusion with her son.
- [Napoleon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/napoleon.md): The Emperor of France, referenced as a historical figure.
- [Adélaïde](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/adelaide.md): A young woman caught in a family dispute over inheritance.
- [Marquise de Listomère](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/marquise_de_listomere.md): A noblewoman who hosts a salon and observes society.
- [Bourgeat](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/bourgeat.md): A humble water-carrier who inspires a famous surgeon.
- [Madame de Vaudremont](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/madame_de_vaudremont.md): A society woman involved in a scandalous affair.
- [Rosalie](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/rosalie.md): A servant who becomes a key witness in a legal case.
- [Ernest de Restaud](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/ernest_de_restaud.md): The son of a countess, involved in family financial ruin.
- [Monsieur de Marsay](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/monsieur_de_marsay.md): A dandy and politician who appears in several stories.
- [Madame de Granville](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/madame_de_granville.md): A neglected wife who seeks solace outside marriage.
- [Octave de Camps](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/octave_de_camps.md): A young man who marries a woman with a hidden past.
- [Comte de Merret](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/comte_de_merret.md): A vengeful husband who discovers his wife's infidelity.
- [Virginie](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/virginie.md): The daughter of a wealthy bourgeois family.
- [Maximilien Longueville](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/maximilien_longueville.md): A young man in love with a woman of higher rank.
- [Comtesse Ferraud](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/comtesse_ferraud.md): The former wife of Colonel Chabert who remarried.
- [Count Férédia](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/count_feredia.md): A count involved in a duel over a woman's honor.
- [Montcornet](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/montcornet.md): A Napoleonic general who becomes a landowner.
- [Julia](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/julia.md): A young woman in a story about a lost message.
- [Angélique Bontems](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/angelique_bontems.md): A young woman who marries a man she does not love.
- [Monsieur de Sommervieux](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/monsieur_de_sommervieux.md): A painter who marries Augustine Guillaume.
- [Servin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/servin.md): A painter and his wife who host a young artist.
- [Laure](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/laure.md): A young girl who helps her mother in a draper's shop.
- [Maurice](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/maurice.md): A servant in the household of the Comtesse Honorine.
- [Comte Ferraud](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/comte_ferraud.md): The second husband of Colonel Chabert's wife.
- [Marquis d'Espard](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/marquis_despard.md): A nobleman seeking a commission in lunacy against his wife.
- [Fanny Malvaut](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/fanny_malvaut.md): A virtuous young woman who marries a painter.
- [Vicomtesse de Grandlieu](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/vicomtesse_de_grandlieu.md): A noblewoman who advises her daughter on marriage.
- [Roguin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/rogain.md): A notary and his wife involved in financial scandal.
- [Mademoiselle des Touches](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/mademoiselle_des_touches.md): A wealthy woman who hosts literary salons.
- [Madame Vervelle](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/madame_vervelle.md): A bourgeois couple who commission a portrait.
- [Comte de Granville](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/comte_de_granville.md): A magistrate who appears in several stories.
- [Madame de Lansac](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/madame_de_lansac.md): An elderly noblewoman who advises a young countess.
- [Madame de Sérizy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters/madame_de_serizy.md): A society woman who helps Colonel Chabert.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/shorts_from_scenes_from_private_life_se/characters