Franz Kafka

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Franz Kafka

• 1833-1924

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Biographical details

• Born in Prague in 1883. At that time Prague was
  part of the Austro-Hungarian empire
• His family lived under the growing threat of
  anti-semitism
• His Father verbally abused Franz
• He was the eldest of six children his two
  youngest brothers died when they were young. His
  three sisters were sent to Jewish ghettos and
  concentration camps in their adult lives. They
  died there.

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Biographical details, contd.

• The situation for Jews in Bohemia at the turn
  of  the century seems to have been one of 
  somewhat suspicious tolerance most of the time,
  with exceptions such as the 1899 anti-Semitic
  riots in Prague, which wiped out many stores
  owned by Jewish shopkeepers.   Kafka's  father,
  who himself owned a shop, had registered his
  family as Czech nationals, and so escaped
  destruction (http//www.kafka-franz.com/kafka-a
  nd-judaism.htm).

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Health issues

• He suffered from depression, social anxiety,
  hypochondria
• In 1917, Kafka began suffering from tuberculosis,
  a disease of the lungs
• He died from this disease in 1924

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Adult life

• He lived with his parents he did not have a good
  relationship with his father
• He developed intense relationships with women.
  One almost resulted in marriage, but he called it
  off.

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Writing style

• The adjective kafka-esque is used when
  describing situations or writing that is
  nightmarish, surreal, pointless or overly complex

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Major works

• The Trial
• The Castle
• Metamorphosis
• Amerika
• All published after he died

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To read more

• www.Kafka.org
• http//www.tameri.com/csw/exist/kafka.shtml
• http//www.kafka-franz.com/kafka-Biography.htm
• http//www.themodernword.com/kafka/kafka_biography
  .html

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