Franz Kafka was born in 1883 in the city of Prague, in the Austria-Hungarian Empire to an upwardly mobile Jewish family of nominal faith. Kafka felt an inferiority complex for much of his childhood, the subject of his father’s overbearing and abrasive personality. Likely resulting from his childhood discomfort, Kafka suffered from mental illness for much of his life. He was clinically depressed, was socially anxious, and was prone to migraines and other stress related maladies.

            Kafka was admitted to Charles-Ferdinand University in 1901 where he studied to be a chemist but later changed his course of study towards law. It was attending university that Kafka first became involved in various literary circles. He befriended Max Brod, who would become a lifelong friend, at university, as well as Felix Weltsch, who would later become a noted journalist as well as others. 

            After university, Kafka worked a series of administrative jobs, which he had little interest in, but for which all accounts suggest he was an apt and hardworking employee. These jobs, which gave him great swaths of free time allowed him to spend much of his time writing and honing his style.

            Starting in 1911, Kafka began working for an asbestos factory that had been founded by his sister’s husband. This second job (he was also working for an insurance company at the time) took time away from his writing, but during this period Kafka grew emotionally and during this period Kafka began to form a closer relationship to Judaism.

            Despite his multiple day jobs, Kafka managed to write some of his greatest works while employed at the asbestoses factory. In 1913 Kafka published a collection of prose called Observations, which was based of his long kept diary and was a manifesto of his beliefs about reality and human existence. This work is one of the first examples of Kafkan Existentialism. Notably, during this period, Kafka also wrote The Trial, Amerika, The Country Doctor and Metamorphosis, which cemented his place as a literary master. 

            During the early 1920’s Kafka caught tuberculosis and was taken care of by his family for a prolonged period of time.  After recovering partially Kafka moved to Germany in 1923 with the hopes of reestablishing himself after his illness. In Berlin he fell in love with a young teacher named Dora Diamant. An Orthadox Jew, Diamant influenced Kafka’s religious views greatly during the time of their relationship. Their relationship was not long, however, for a year after they met Kafka fell to his tuberculosis and died. 

            It was only after his death, however, that Kafka reached the height of his fame. Many of his great works were published posthumously and those remain today as keystones of modern literature.