# Boniface Cointet — Lost Illusions character guide

> Boniface Cointet in Lost Illusions by Honoré de Balzac.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Cointet, fat Cointet, tall Cointet

**First appearance:** 0002-part-i-two-poets

## Snapshot

A prosperous Angoulême printer whose quiet manners and long patience conceal a predator's instinct for swallowing his rivals whole.

## Who they are

Cointet belongs to the wealthy printing family that dominates Angoulême's paper trade, and his fortune makes him a natural counterweight to the struggling Séchard press. Where David Séchard dreams of invention, Cointet calculates — patient, courteous, and utterly unsentimental about the men he means to ruin. His rivalry with the Séchard firm gives the provincial chapters their quiet menace, turning every business negotiation into a slow siege.

## Relationships

### [David Séchard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_illusions_se/characters/david_sechard)

_rivalry_

Cointet is a cunning businessman who exploits David's invention and schemes to ruin him financially.

### [David Séchard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_illusions_se/characters/david_sechard)

_rivalry_

Cointet is a cunning businessman who exploits David's invention and schemes to ruin him financially.

### [David Séchard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_illusions_se/characters/david_sechard)

_rivalry_

Cointet is a cunning businessman who exploits David's invention and schemes to ruin him financially.

## In the story

### [Part III: Eve and David](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_illusions_se/chapters/part-iii-eve-and-david)

Part of the Cointet brothers who are the prospective buyers of David's business and paper-making discovery.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_illusions_se/characters/boniface_cointet
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_illusions_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_illusions_se/characters