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

Having started working in the insurance department, Kafka worked all his career in small bureaucratic positions. Despite his passion for literature, most of Kafka's writings were published after his death, and he disliked his official work. 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. So in the “Letter to the Father” they found an expression of the relationship between Franz and his father, which had to be broken early.

Kafka was a sickly man, but he tried to resist all his ailments. In 1917, Kafka's biography suffered 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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Franz Kafka- one of the main 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 the highest authority, capable of evoking corresponding disturbing 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 a Czech-speaking Jewish community in South Bohemia, since 1882 he was a haberdashery wholesaler. The writer's mother - Julia Kafka (nee Etl Levy), the daughter of a wealthy brewer - preferred the German language. Kafka himself wrote in German, although he knew Czech just as well. He also had a good command of French, and among the four people whom the writer, “not pretending to be compared with them in strength and reason,” felt “his blood brothers,” was the French writer Gustave Flaubert.

The other three are Franz Grillparzer, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Heinrich von Kleist. Although a Jew, Kafka knew little of 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 the study of 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 was 6 years old. The sisters were named Elli, Valli and Ottla (all three died during World War II in Nazi concentration camps in Poland). Between 1889 and 1893 Kafka attended elementary school, and then gymnasium, which he graduated in 1901 with a matriculation exam. After graduating from Charles University in Prague, he received a doctorate in law (Professor Alfred Weber was Kafka's dissertation supervisor), and then entered the service of an official in the insurance department, where he worked in modest positions until his premature retirement in 1922 due to illness. Work for the writer was a secondary and burdensome occupation: in diaries and letters, he confesses his hatred for his boss, colleagues and clients. Literature has always been in the foreground, "justifying its entire existence."

Asceticism, self-doubt, self-condemnation and a painful perception of the world around - all these qualities of the writer are well documented in his letters and diaries, and especially in the "Letter to the 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 his home, which left an imprint on his attitude towards Prague itself and its inhabitants. Chronic diseases plagued him; in addition to tuberculosis, he suffered from migraines, insomnia, constipation, impotence, boils and other diseases. He tried to counteract all of this in naturopathic ways, 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, made efforts to organize and promote theatrical performances, despite the misgivings even from his closest friends, such as Max Brod, who usually supported him in everything else, and contrary to his own fear of being perceived as repulsive both physically and mentally. Kafka made an impression on those around him with his boyish, neat, strict appearance, calm and imperturbable behavior, his intelligence and unusual sense of humor.

Kafka's relationship with his despotic father is an important component of his work, which also resulted in the failure of the writer as a family man. Between 1912 and 1917 he courted the Berlin girl Felicia Bauer, to whom he was twice engaged and twice canceled the engagement. Communicating with her mainly through letters, Kafka created her image, which did not correspond to reality at all. And in fact they were very different people, as is clear from their correspondence. The second bride of Kafka was Yulia Vokhrytsek, but the engagement was again soon terminated. In the early 1920s he had a love relationship with a married Czech journalist, writer and translator of his works - Milena Yesenska. In 1923, Kafka moved to Berlin with nineteen-year-old Dora Dimant for a few months, hoping to distance himself from family influence and concentrate on writing; then he returned to Prague. Health at this time was deteriorating, and on June 3, 1924, Kafka died in a sanatorium near Vienna, probably from exhaustion (a sore throat prevented him from eating, 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 Strasnice district, in a common family grave.

During his lifetime, Kafka published only a few short stories, which made up 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 wrote (except, perhaps, some copies of works that the owners could keep for themselves, but not republish them). His beloved Dora Dimant did destroy the manuscripts 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.

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Franz Kafka was born on July 3, 1883, becoming the first child in the family of the 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 morally put 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 he found it - oddly enough, in books.

During his studies at the classical gymnasium, Kafka took up writing, and in recent years he has constantly created new works. In a circle of liberal Jewish students at the University of Prague, where Franz studied law, he met Max Brod. This energetic, strong fellow soon becomes the best friend of the young writer, and later will play the most important role in the transfer of Kafka's creative legacy to the public. In addition, it is thanks to Max that Franz continues to live, despite the dull work of a lawyer and the general lack of inspiration. Broad, in the end, almost forces the young writer to start 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 consider suicide. Fortunately, the performances of the Lviv nomadic theater distract him from such thoughts.

The father's ban on intimate relationships with women affected Franz's psyche so much that he, already standing on the threshold of married life, backed away. This happened twice - the first time with Felicia Bauer, and the second time with Yulia Vokhrytsek.

In the last year of his life, Kafka met his best friend, Dora 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 to the couple, they could not live happily: attacks became more frequent, tuberculosis progressed. Franz Kafka died on June 3, 1924 - after a week he could not eat anything and finally lost his voice ...

Franz Kafka, bibliography

Everything Franz Kafka's books:

Novels
1905
"Description of a Struggle"
1907
"Wedding Preparations in the Village"
1909
"Conversation with the Prayer"
1909
"Conversation with a drunk"
1909
"Airplanes in Brescia"
1909
"Women's Prayer Book"
1911
Co-authored with Max Brod: "First long trip by rail"
1911
Co-authored with Max Brod: "Richard and Samuel: A Little 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 was the Chinese wall built?
1918
"Murder"
1921
"Riding the Bucket"
1922
"In our synagogue"
1922
"Fireman"
1922
"In the attic"
1922
"One Dog Studies"
1924
"Nora"
1931
"He. Recordings of 1920"
1931
"To the series" He ""
1915
Collection "Kara"
1912
"Sentence"
1912
"Transformation"
1914
"In the penitentiary"
1913
Collection "Contemplation"
1913
"Children on the road"
1913
"Unveiled Rogue"
1913
"Sudden Walk"
1913
"Solutions"
1913
"Walking in the mountains"
1913
"Bachelor's Woe"
1908
"Merchant"
1908
"Absently looking out the window"
1908
"Way home"
1908
"Running by"
1908
"Passenger"
1908
"Dresses"
1908
"Refusal"
1913
"Riders to Reflection"
1913
"Window to the street"
1913
"Desire to Become an Indian"
1908
"Trees"
1913
"Yearning"
1919
Collection "Rural Doctor"
1917
"The New Lawyer"
1917
"Country Doctor"
1917
"At the gallery"
1917
"Old Record"
1914
"Before the Law"
1917
"Jackals and Arabs"
1917
"Visit to the mine"
1917
"Neighbor Village"
1917
"Imperial Message"
1917
"Care of the head of the family"
1917
"Eleven Sons"
1919
"Fratricide"
1914
"Dream"
1917
"Report for the Academy"
1924
Collection "Hunger"
1921
"First grief"
1923
"Small woman"
1922
"Hunger"
1924
Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse People
Small prose
1917
"Bridge"
1917
"Knock on the Gate"
1917
"Neighbor"
1917
"Hybrid"
1917
"Appeal"
1917
"New Lamps"
1917
"Rail Passengers"
1917
"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 Application"
1920
"On the issue of laws"
1920
"Recruiting"
1920
"Exam"
1920
"Kite"
1920
"Steering"
1920
"Top"
1920
"Basenka"
1922
"Departure"
1922
"Defenders"
1922
"Married couple"
1922
"Commentary (do not hope!)"
1922
"About parables"
Novels
1916
"America" ​​("Missing")
1918
"Process"

Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924) - a famous German writer, a classic of literature of the twentieth century. During his lifetime he was not deservedly appreciated. Almost all of the writer's famous works were published after his untimely 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 Sr. 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 to attend elementary school. In those years, no one doubted the need for education. The boy's parents, on the example of their own lives, perfectly understood his importance.

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

Of all the subjects, Franz was initially most fascinated by literature. In order 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 ahead and create his own theater group. Most of all, his friends were surprised by this. They knew perfectly well how shy their companion was and not quite sure of himself. Therefore, his desire to play on stage caused bewilderment. However, Franz could always count on support.

Study, work

In 1901, Kafka graduated from the gymnasium and received a matriculation certificate. He had to decide on future activities. Having doubted for some time, the young man chose the right and went to comprehend its complexities at Charles University. It cannot be said that it was only his decision. Rather, a compromise with his father, who was going to involve him in the trade.

Relations with the despotic father of the young man developed poorly. In the end, Franz left his home and lived for many years in rented apartments and rooms, living from penny to penny. After graduating from university, Kafka was forced to get a job as an official in the insurance department. It was a good place, but not for him.

The young man was not made for this kind of work. In his dreams, he saw himself as a writer, and devoted all his free time to studying literature and his own creativity. In the latter, he saw only 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 case of 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 that go back to childhood, family and relationships with the father. Be that as it may, but for most of his life Kafka was in an endless depression. This is very evident 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 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 greatest love of the writer was Milena Yesenskaya. 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 work. 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 short stories. He would not have done this if 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. On the contrary, he sent all the manuscripts to the printer.

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

Death

In his diaries, Kafka often speaks of fatigue from constant illness. He directly expresses the certainty that he will not live more than forty years. And he turned out to be right. In 1924 he was gone.

Franz Kafka (German Franz Kafka, July 3, 1883, Prague, Austria-Hungary - June 3, 1924, Klosterneuburg, First Austrian Republic) 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 the highest authority, capable of evoking corresponding disturbing feelings in the reader, are a unique phenomenon in world literature. Kafka was born on July 3, 1883 to a Jewish family in the Josefov district, the former Jewish ghetto of Prague (now the Czech Republic, at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). His father, Herman (Genykh) Kafka (1852-1931), came from a Czech-speaking Jewish community in South Bohemia, since 1882 he was a haberdashery wholesaler. The surname "Kafka" is of Czech origin (kavka literally means "jackdaw"). Hermann Kafka's signature envelopes, which Franz often used for letters, feature this bird with a quivering tail as an emblem. The writer's mother, Julia Kafka (née Etl Levy) (1856-1934), the daughter of a wealthy brewer, preferred German. Kafka himself wrote in German, although he knew Czech just as well. He was also fluent in French, and among the five people whom the writer, “not pretending to be compared with them in strength and reason,” felt “his blood brothers,” was the French writer Gustave Flaubert. The other four are Franz Grillparzer, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Heinrich von Kleist and Nikolai Gogol. Although a Jew, Kafka knew little of 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 the study of Hebrew arose only towards the end of his life. In 1923, Kafka, together with the nineteen-year-old Dora Dimant, moved to Berlin for several months in the hope of moving away from the influence of the family and concentrating on writing; then he returned to Prague. At that time, his health was deteriorating: due to the aggravated 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 Strasnice district, in a common family grave.