FRANZ KAFKABORN: July 3, 1883

DECEASED: June 3, 1924

FAMILY

- Son of Hermann and Julie Kafka

- Middle-class German-speaking Jewish family

- Eldest of six children- Two younger brothers (died in

infancy)- Three younger sisters (died in

concentration camps)- Father independent retailer of

fancy goods/accessories- Mother well-

educated, managed father’s business

- Father described is tyrannical, abusive

CHILDHOOD & EDUCATION

- Born in Prague, capital of modern day Czech Republic

- Children by governesses & servants- Attended Deutschule in Prague, 1889 – 1893- Sent to German schools, social advancement- Following secondary school, attended Charles

Ferdinand University- Chemistry to Law- Met Max Brod, lifelong friend- Obtained degree of Doctor of Law, 1906

ADULTHOOD

- 1907 – 1908 Brief employment in Italian insurance

- Quit due to heavy schedule- 1908 – 1922 Worker’s Accident

Insurance for the Kingdom of Bohemia, “bread job”

- Retired due to ill health- Introduced to Felice Bauer by Max

Brod- Moves to Berlin in 1923 with Dora

Diamant, a teacher

RELIGION

- Father stifled Jewish heritage- Speculated as a Zionist- Influenced by late lover Dora

Diamant- Talmud

SICKNESS, HOMECOMING, D

EATH

- Diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1917- After retirement, supported by family and

sister, Ottla- Clinical depression, social

anxiety, migraines, insomnia, constiption, boils, etc.

- Naturopathic treatments- Returned to Prague as TB worsened- Went to Dr. Hoffman sanatorium- Died on June 3, 1924 of starvation- Buried in

KAFKA’S WORK

Max Brod

- Published few short stories in his lifetime- The Judgement- The Metamorphosis- In the Penal Colony- A Hunger Artist

- Never finished a novel- Burned 90 percent of work (with

Diamant)- Left everything to Brod to be burned- Most work published

posthumously, including The Trail and Amerika

- Gestapo confiscated 20 notebooks 35 letters, still unfound

- Brod’s secretary

KAFKAESQUE

- Strange settings and situations- Confused protagonists overwhelmed

by seedy, illogical characters- Often

absurd, bizarre, metaphysical, and existential

- Influenced by writer von Kleist- Has influenced writers and artists such

as Gabriel Garcia Marquez (magical realism), Camus, Sartre, Orson Welles, David Lynch, and Tom Waits

HONOR AND LEGACY

- Never received any awards- Franz Kafka Museum in Prague- Franz Kafka Prize in Prague

http://www.egs.edu/library/franz-kafka/biography/

http://www.themodernword.com/kafka/kafka_biography.html

http://www.biography.com/people/franz-kafka-9359401

http://www.kafka.org/index.php?biography

http://www.kafka-online.info/franz-kafka-biography.htm

SOURCES