Life story
Franz Kafka was born on 3 July 1883 in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A German-language Jewish Czech writer, he drew from the city of his birth a sense of place that would suffuse his work.
Widely regarded as a major figure of twentieth-century literature, his writings fuse elements of realism and the fantastique. They typically feature isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surreal predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers.
So distinctive is his vision that the term 'Kafkaesque' has entered the lexicon. His best-known works include the novella The Metamorphosis and the novels The Trial and The Castle, and he is also celebrated for his brief fables and aphorisms, often touched with quiet comedy alongside their darker themes.
He died on 3 June 1924 at Kierling. His work has since influenced artists, philosophers, composers, filmmakers and scholars across many fields, and he rests in the New Jewish Cemetery in Prague, the city he never truly left.
Životopisné údaje z verejných zdrojov. Portrét: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).
Constellation of Life
Important milestones that shaped their journey.