Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka (1883–1924) was a Prague writer of Jewish origin who wrote in German and is considered one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. He was born in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He studied law and worked for an insurance company, but writing was his true passion, although he published only a small part of his work during his lifetime.

Kafka's works are marked by themes of alienation, bureaucracy, anxiety and the helplessness of the individual in a world without clear meaning or justice. His best-known works are The Metamorphosis, a novel about a man who wakes up transformed into an insect, and the novels The Trial and The Castle, which depict an individual confronted with absurd, impenetrable systems of power.

His style is characterized by precision of expression, an anxious atmosphere and symbolism, which later led to the term "Kafkaesque", which denotes situations without a way out or rational explanation. Kafka was extremely self-critical and left a request in his will that his unpublished manuscripts be destroyed, which his friend Max Brod did not comply with – thanks to which Kafka became world famous after his death.

He died of tuberculosis in 1924, at the age of 41.