Franz Kafka
1883–1924 · Czech (Prague, Austro-Hungarian Empire) · Early 20th Century Europe
Known for: Author of The Metamorphosis, The Trial, The Castle—the word 'Kafkaesque' entered the language
Franz Kafka was a German-speaking Jew in Prague—triply alienated. He worked as an insurance clerk by day and wrote at night, producing some of the most disturbing and original fiction ever written. His stories of bureaucratic nightmare, inexplicable transformation, and existential dread anticipated totalitarianism and remain eerily relevant.
He was perpetually anxious, suffered from insomnia and tuberculosis, and had tortured relationships with women. He asked his friend Max Brod to burn all his manuscripts after death—Brod refused, publishing them posthumously. Kafka was slim, handsome, and charming in person, despite his inner torment.
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