Franz Kafka is a prominent representative of modernist literature and, perhaps, one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. It is surprising that his main works were published posthumously, and during his lifetime the suspicious and insecure Kafka did not receive recognition as a writer.
short biography
Franz Kafka was born on July 3, 1883 in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. From 1889 to 1893, he attended elementary school, then entered the gymnasium, and studied there, as it should be, for eight years. Already in childhood, his relationship with his father was tense - the despotic Gustav Kafka could not understand his vulnerable son. And even as Franz grew up, the situation, in fact, did not change.
In 1901, Kafka became a student at Charles University in the same Prague, and after graduation he received the title of Doctor of Law. A good education allowed the young man to get a job in an insurance office. Here he worked in various (not too, however, high) positions until 1922. Franz Kafka was valued by his superiors as a hardworking and executive worker, but secretly he considered literature to be the main business of his life.
In 1917, the writer suffered a pulmonary hemorrhage, due to which a disease such as tuberculosis began to develop. At that time, they still did not know how to deal with tuberculosis properly, and Kafka's condition only worsened every year. In 1922 he retired due to illness. And in June 1924, in an Austrian sanatorium, the writer died. Most likely, the cause of his death was exhaustion. Severe sore throat caused by tuberculosis prevented Franz from eating normally.
It is known that before his death, Franz wanted his closest friend, Max Brod, to destroy all of his works. But Brod did not obey and did exactly the opposite - he published most of Kafka's works. It is worth noting that the writer's original work did not attract the attention of the general public until his brilliant novels - "The Trial", "America", "The Castle" were published. By the way, none of these novels are complete.
Personal life
Between 1912 and 1917, Franz had a relationship with a girl from Berlin, Felicia Bauer. Kafka communicated with Felicia mainly through letters, their correspondence is significant and is of great interest to literary scholars. Twice the writer proposed to this girl and twice she agreed. But for some reason, Franz still did not dare to marry her. Their romance came to an end when the writer fell ill with tuberculosis.
The time of communication with Felicia became one of the most fruitful for Kafka in terms of creativity - during this period he created some chapters from the novel "America", the short stories "Metamorphosis", "Walk in the Mountains", "The Sentence", "The Desire to Become an Indian", " In a correctional colony ", etc.
Another potential bride of Kafka was Yulia Vokhrytsek, but the engagement to her was terminated after some time. This was insisted on by the writer's father, who believed that the daughter of a shoemaker (and Julia's father was just a shoemaker) could not be a worthy wife for Franz.
In the early twenties, Kafka had an intimate relationship with a Czech journalist and translator of his prose, Milena Jesenska. But we must understand that Milena was married to another person at that time, and Kafka remained in the status of a lover.
There was another novel: eleven months before his death, in 1923, Franz met 25-year-old Dora Dimant. This girl really loved at that time already very sick Franz. But, unfortunately, she did not have time to become his official wife.
