Gustave Flaubert was born in 1821 and was raised in Rouen, France. He moved to Paris in 1840 to study law at the College Royal de Rouen. In 1844, his studies ended because of his deteriorating health; it is suspected that he had epilepsy. His father and sister died in 1846, and he moved to Croisset with his mother and niece. There, he occasionally travelled to Paris, but spent most of the remainder of his life in Croisset. He produced realism masterpieces such as Madame Bovary, A Sentimental Education, and Three Tales, paying particular attention to precision and detail. At the time of its release, Madame Bovary caused public controversy -- Flaubert was charged with promoting immorality, but those charges were later dropped. He died of a stroke in 1880.