Kafka was born on July 3, 1883 in the Czech Republic. The first education in the biography of Franz Kafka was received in elementary school (from 1889 to 1893). The next step in education was the gymnasium, from which Franz graduated in 1901. He then entered Charles University in Prague, after which he became a Doctor of Law.

Having started working in the insurance department, Kafka spent his entire career working in small bureaucratic positions. Despite his passion for literature, most of Kafka's works were published after his death, and his official work he didn't like. Kafka fell in love several times. But things never went beyond novels; the writer was not married.

Most of Kafka's works are written in German. His prose reflects the writer's fear of the outside world, anxiety and uncertainty. Thus, in “Letter to Father,” the relationship between Franz and his father, which had to be broken early, was expressed.

Kafka was a sick man, but he tried to resist all his illnesses. In 1917, Kafka's biography suffered from a serious illness (pulmonary hemorrhage), as a result of which the writer began to develop tuberculosis. It was for this reason that Franz Kafka died in June 1924 while undergoing treatment.

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- one of the main German-language writers of the 20th century, most of whose work was published posthumously. His works, permeated with absurdity and fear of the outside world and higher authority, capable of awakening corresponding anxious feelings in the reader, are a unique phenomenon in world literature. Kafka was born on July 3, 1883, into a Jewish family living in the Josefov district, the former Jewish ghetto of Prague (the Czech Republic at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). His father, Herman (Genykh) Kafka, came from the Czech-speaking Jewish community in Southern Bohemia, and since 1882 he was a wholesale merchant of haberdashery goods. The writer's mother, Julia Kafka (née Etl Levi), the daughter of a wealthy brewer, preferred. Kafka himself wrote in German, although he knew Czech just as well. He also spoke French quite well, and among the four people whom the writer, “without pretending to compare with them in strength and intelligence,” felt as “his blood brothers,” was the French writer Gustave Flaubert.

The other three are Franz Grillparzer, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Heinrich von Kleist. Being a Jew, Kafka nevertheless practically did not speak Yiddish and began to show interest in traditional culture Eastern European Jews only at the age of twenty under the influence of Jewish theater troupes touring in Prague; interest in learning Hebrew arose only towards the end of his life.

Kafka had two younger brothers and three younger sisters. Both brothers, before reaching the age of two, died before Kafka turned 6 years old. The sisters were named Ellie, Valli and Ottla (all three died during World War II in Nazi concentration camps in Poland). In the period from 1889 to 1893. Kafka visited primary school, and then a gymnasium, which he graduated from in 1901 by passing the matriculation exam. After graduating from Charles University in Prague, he received a doctorate in law (Kafka’s work supervisor on his dissertation was Professor Alfred Weber), and then entered the service as an official in the insurance department, where he worked in modest positions until his premature retirement due to illness in 1922. Work for the writer was a secondary and burdensome occupation: in his diaries and letters, he admits to hating his boss, colleagues and clients. In the foreground there was always literature, “justifying his entire existence.”

Asceticism, self-doubt, self-judgment and a painful perception of the world around him - all these qualities of the writer are well documented in his letters and diaries, and especially in “Letter to Father” - a valuable introspection in the relationship between father and son. Due to an early break with his parents, Kafka was forced to lead a very modest lifestyle and often change housing, which left an imprint on his attitude towards Prague itself and its inhabitants. Chronic illnesses plagued him; in addition to tuberculosis, he suffered from migraines, insomnia, constipation, impotence, abscesses and other diseases. He tried to counteract all this with naturopathic means such as a vegetarian diet, regular exercise and drinking large amounts of unpasteurized cow's milk. As a schoolboy, he took an active part in organizing literary and social meetings, making efforts to organize and promote theater performances, despite misgivings even from his closest friends, such as Max Brod, who usually supported him in everything else, and despite his own fear of being perceived as repulsive both physically and mentally. Kafka impressed those around him with his boyish, neat, strict appearance, calm and calm behavior, his intelligence and unusual sense of humor.

Kafka's relationship with his oppressive father is an important component of his work, which also resulted from the writer's failure as a family man. Between 1912 and 1917. he courted a Berlin girl, Felicia Bauer, to whom he was twice engaged and twice broke the engagement. Communicating with her mainly through letters, Kafka created an image of her that did not correspond to reality at all. And in fact they were very different people, as is clear from their correspondence. Kafka's second bride was Julia Vokhrytsek, but the engagement was again soon called off. In the early 1920s. he had love relationship with a married Czech journalist, writer and translator of his works, Milena Jesenskaya. In 1923, Kafka moved to Berlin with nineteen-year-old Dora Dimant for several months in the hope of moving away from family influence and concentrating on writing; then he returned to Prague. His health was deteriorating at this time, and on June 3, 1924, Kafka died in a sanatorium near Vienna, probably from exhaustion (a sore throat did not allow him to eat, and in those days intravenous therapy was not developed to feed him artificially). The body was transported to Prague, where it was buried on June 11, 1924 at the New Jewish Cemetery in the Strašnice district, in a common family grave.

During his lifetime, Kafka published only a few short stories, constituted a very small proportion of his work, and his work attracted little attention until his novels were published posthumously. Before his death, he instructed his friend and literary executor, Max Brod, to burn, without exception, everything he had written (except, perhaps, for some copies of the works, which the owners could keep for themselves, but not republish them). His beloved Dora Dimant did destroy the manuscripts that she possessed (although not all), but Max Brod did not obey the will of the deceased and published most of his works, which soon began to attract attention. All of his published work, except for a few Czech-language letters to Milena Jesenskaya, was written in German.

(estimates: 1 , average: 5,00 out of 5)

Franz Kafka was born on July 3, 1883, becoming the first child in the family of successful merchant Hermann Kafka. He, the father, became the most terrible punishment not only of the writer’s childhood, but of his entire life. From infancy, Kafka learned what a father's strong hand was. One night, while still very young, Franz asked his father for water, after which he, angry, locked the poor boy on the balcony. In general, Herman completely controlled his wife and children (there were three more girls in the family), mocked and put moral pressure on the household.

Due to constant pressure, Franz early began to feel his own insignificance and guilt towards his father. He tried to find a way to hide from the evil reality, and found it - oddly enough, in books.

While studying at a classical gymnasium, Kafka took up writing activity, and in recent years he has constantly created new works. In the circle of liberal Jewish students at the University of Prague, where Franz studied jurisprudence, he met Max Brod. This energetic, strong fellow soon becomes the young writer's best friend, and later will play the most important role in conveying Kafka's creative legacy to the public. Moreover, it is thanks to Max that Franz continues to live, despite the dull work of a lawyer and the general lack of inspiration. Brod, in the end, almost forces the young writer to begin publishing.

Father's pressure did not stop even after Franz became an adult. He constantly reproached his son for earning very little. As a result, the writer gets a job...in an asbestos factory. Wasting his energy and time in vain, Kafka begins to seriously think about suicide. Fortunately, the performances of the Lviv nomadic theater distract him from such thoughts.

His father’s ban on intimate relationships with women had such a strong impact on Franz’s psyche that he, already standing on the threshold married life, backed away. This happened twice - the first time with Felicia Bauer, and the second time with Yulia Vokhrytsek.

IN Last year life Kafka met his best friend– Doru Diamant. For her sake, one might say, he finally matured, leaving his parents in Prague and going to live with her in Berlin. Even the short time left for the couple, they could not live happily: attacks became more frequent, tuberculosis progressed. Franz Kafka died on June 3, 1924, after he could not eat anything for a week and completely lost his voice...

Franz Kafka, bibliography

All books by Franz Kafka:

Novels
1905
"Description of one struggle"
1907
"Wedding Preparations in the Village"
1909
"Conversation with a Prayer"
1909
"Conversation with a Drunk Man"
1909
"Airplanes in Brescia"
1909
"Women's Prayer Book"
1911
Co-authored with Max Brod: "The First Long Journey by Rail"
1911
Co-authored with Max Brod: "Richard and Samuel: a short journey through Central Europe"
1912
"Big Noise"
1914
"Before the Law"
1915
"School teacher"
1915
"Blumfeld, the old bachelor"
1917
"Crypt Keeper"
1917
"Hunter Gracchus"
1917
"How the Chinese Wall was Built"
1918
"Murder"
1921
"Riding on a Bucket"
1922
"In our synagogue"
1922
"Fireman"
1922
"In the attic"
1922
"One Dog's Research"
1924
"Nora"
1931
"He. Records of 1920"
1931
“To the series “He””
1915
Collection "Kara"
1912
"Sentence"
1912
"Metamorphosis"
1914
"In the penal colony"
1913
Collection “Contemplation”
1913
"Children on the Road"
1913
"The Rogue Exposed"
1913
"Sudden Walk"
1913
"Solutions"
1913
"Walk to the Mountains"
1913
"Sorrow of a Bachelor"
1908
"Merchant"
1908
"Looking Absently Out the Window"
1908
"Way home"
1908
"Running By"
1908
"Passenger"
1908
"Dresses"
1908
"Refusal"
1913
"For riders to think about"
1913
"Window to the Street"
1913
"The desire to become an Indian"
1908
"Trees"
1913
"Yearning"
1919
Collection “The Country Doctor”
1917
"New Lawyer"
1917
"Country Doctor"
1917
"On the gallery"
1917
"Old Record"
1914
"Before the Law"
1917
"Jackals and Arabs"
1917
"Visit to the Mine"
1917
"Neighboring Village"
1917
"Imperial Message"
1917
"The care of the head of the family"
1917
"Eleven Sons"
1919
"Fratricide"
1914
"Dream"
1917
"Report for the Academy"
1924
Collection "The Hunger"
1921
"First Woe"
1923
"Small woman"
1922
"Hunger"
1924
"The Singer Josephine, or the Mouse People"
Short prose
1917
"Bridge"
1917
"Knock on the Gate"
1917
"Neighbour"
1917
"Hybrid"
1917
"Appeal"
1917
"New lamps"
1917
"Railway Passengers"
1917
"An Ordinary Story"
1917
"The Truth About Sancho Panza"
1917
"Silence of the Sirens"
1917
"Commonwealth of Scoundrels"
1918
"Prometheus"
1920
"Homecoming"
1920
"City coat of arms"
1920
"Poseidon"
1920
"Commonwealth"
1920
"At night"
1920
"Rejected Petition"
1920
"On the issue of laws"
1920
"Recruitment"
1920
"Exam"
1920
"Kite"
1920
"Steering"
1920
"Top"
1920
"Fable"
1922
"Departure"
1922
"Defenders"
1922
"The Married Couple"
1922
“Comment (don’t get your hopes up!)”
1922
"About Parables"
Novels
1916
"America" ​​("Missing")
1918
"Process"

Franz Kafka (1883 – 1924) – famous German writer, a classic of twentieth-century literature. During his lifetime he was not deservedly appreciated. Almost everything famous works The writer was published after his premature death.

Childhood

The future writer was born in Prague. He was the first of six children in a fairly wealthy Jewish family. Two of his brothers died in early childhood, leaving only his sisters. Kafka the elder was a successful merchant. He made a good fortune selling haberdashery. Mother came from wealthy brewers. Thus, despite the lack of titles and belonging to high society, the family was never in need.

As soon as Franz was six years old, he began attending primary school. In those years, no one doubted the need for education. The boy's parents are an example own life understood its importance very well.

Franz studied well. He was a modest and well-mannered child, always neatly dressed and courteous, so adults always treated him favorably. At the same time, his lively mind, knowledge, and sense of humor attracted peers to the boy.

Of all the subjects, Franz was initially most fascinated by literature. To be able to discuss what he read and share his thoughts, he initiated the organization of literary meetings. They were popular. Inspired by this, Kafka decided to go further and create his own theater group. Most of all, his friends were surprised by this. They knew very well how shy their friend was and not entirely confident in himself. Therefore, his desire to play on stage raised eyebrows. However, Franz could always count on support.

Study, work

In 1901, Kafka graduated from high school and received a matriculation certificate. He had to decide on his future activities. After doubting for some time, the young man chose law and went to understand its complexities at Charles University. This is not to say that it was only his decision. More like a compromise with his father, who was going to involve him in trading.

Relationship with an oppressive father young man turned out badly. In the end, Franz left his home and long years lived in rented apartments and rooms, living from penny to penny. After graduating from university, Kafka was forced to take a job as an official in the insurance department. It was a nice place, but not for him.

The young man was not cut out for such work. In his dreams, he saw himself as a writer, and devoted all his free time to the study of literature and his own creativity. In the latter, he saw exclusively an outlet for himself, not for a moment recognizing the artistic value of his works. He was so embarrassed by them that he even bequeathed to his friend to destroy all his literary experiments in the event of his death.

Kafka was a very sick person. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis. In addition, the writer was tormented by frequent migraines and insomnia. Most experts agree that these problems had psychological roots, going back to childhood, family and relationships with the father. Be that as it may, Kafka spent most of his life in endless depression. This is very clearly visible in his work.

Relationships with women

Kafka never married. However, there were women in his life. For a long time, the writer had a relationship with Felicia Bauer. She clearly wanted to marry him, because the girl was not embarrassed by the broken engagement and the fact that he soon proposed to her again. However, the wedding did not end this time either. Kafka changed his mind again.

These events can also be explained by the fact that the young people communicated mainly by correspondence. Based on the letters, Kafka created in his imagination the image of a girl who in reality turned out to be completely different.

The writer's greatest love was Milena Jesenskaya. For the 20s of the last century, she was an incredibly free and self-sufficient person. A translator and journalist, Milena saw a talented writer in her lover. She was one of the few with whom he shared his creativity. It seemed that their romance could develop into something more. However, Milena was married.

At the very end of his life, Kafka began an affair with nineteen-year-old Dora Diamant.

Creation

During his lifetime, Kafka published only a small number of stories. He would not have done this either if it were not for his close friend Max Brod, who always tried to support the writer and believed in his talent. It was to him that Kafka bequeathed to destroy all written works. However, Brod did not do this. On the contrary, he sent all the manuscripts to the printing house.

Soon Kafka's name became famous. Readers and critics highly appreciated everything that was saved from the fire. Unfortunately, Dora Diamant still managed to destroy some of the books that she received.

Death

In his diaries, Kafka often talks about fatigue from constant illness. He directly expresses his confidence that he will not live more than forty years. And he turned out to be right. In 1924 he died.

Franz Kafka (German Franz Kafka, July 3, 1883, Prague, Austria-Hungary - June 3, 1924, Klosterneuburg, First Republic of Austria) is one of the outstanding German-language writers of the 20th century, most of whose works were published posthumously. His works, permeated with absurdity and fear of the outside world and higher authority, capable of awakening corresponding anxious feelings in the reader, are a unique phenomenon in world literature. Kafka was born on July 3, 1883, into a Jewish family living in the Josefov district, the former Jewish ghetto of Prague (now the Czech Republic, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). His father, Hermann (Genich) Kafka (1852-1931), came from the Czech-speaking Jewish community in Southern Bohemia, and since 1882 he was a wholesale merchant of haberdashery goods. The surname "Kafka" is of Czech origin (kavka literally means "daw"). On Hermann Kafka's signature envelopes, which Franz often used for letters, this bird with a quivering tail is depicted as an emblem. The writer's mother, Julia Kafka (née Etl Levi) (1856-1934), the daughter of a wealthy brewer, preferred German. Kafka himself wrote in German, although he knew Czech just as well. He also spoke French quite well, and among the five people whom the writer, “without pretending to compare with them in strength and intelligence,” felt as “his blood brothers,” was the French writer Gustave Flaubert. The other four are Franz Grillparzer, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Heinrich von Kleist and Nikolai Gogol. Being a Jew, Kafka nevertheless practically did not speak Yiddish and began to show interest in the traditional culture of Eastern European Jews only at the age of twenty under the influence of Jewish theater troupes touring in Prague; interest in learning Hebrew arose only towards the end of his life. In 1923, Kafka, together with nineteen-year-old Dora Dimant, moved to Berlin for several months in the hope of moving away from the influence of his family and concentrating on writing; then he returned to Prague. His health was deteriorating at this time: due to worsening tuberculosis of the larynx, he experienced severe pain and could not eat. On June 3, 1924, Kafka died in a sanatorium near Vienna. The cause of death was probably exhaustion. The body was transported to Prague, where it was buried on June 11, 1924 at the New Jewish Cemetery in the Strašnice district, in a common family grave.