Thomas Wolfe

popular name: Franz Kafka

date_of_death: June 3, 1924

age: 40

cause_of_death: Laryngeal tuberculosis and starvation

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: Franz Kafka was a German-speaking Bohemian writer born on July 3, 1883, in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now the Czech Republic). He is widely regarded as one of the most influential literary figures of the 20th century. Kafka was born into a middle-class Jewish family and had a complicated relationship with his domineering father, which deeply influenced his writing. He studied law at the University of Prague and worked for much of his life in insurance, writing in his spare time. Kafka’s works often explore themes of alienation, absurdity, and the oppressive power of bureaucracy, with his most famous stories including The Metamorphosis, The Trial, and The Castle. His distinctive style blends realism with surreal, nightmarish scenarios, reflecting a sense of existential dread. Despite writing prolifically, Kafka published only a few works during his lifetime and instructed his friend Max Brod to destroy his manuscripts after his death. Brod ignored these wishes and instead edited and published much of Kafka’s work, securing his posthumous reputation.

popular name: Oscar Wilde

date_of_death: November 30, 1900

age: 46

cause_of_death: Meningitis following an acute ear infection

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: Oscar Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill. Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. Undeniably brilliant, the author, playwright and poet was known for his acclaimed works including 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' and 'The Importance of Being Earnest,' as well as his brilliant wit, flamboyant style and infamous imprisonment for homosexuality. Aside from is collective works, he is also remembered for the circumstances of his criminal conviction for gross indecency for consensual homosexual acts in "one of the first celebrity trials" and imprisonment. At the height of his fame and success, while The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) was still being performed in London, Wilde prosecuted the Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel trial unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and trial for gross indecency with men. After two more trials he was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labor, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. Today his collective works are considered among the great literary masterpieces of the late Victorian period.

popular name: Jane Austen

date_of_death: July 18, 1817

age: 41

cause_of_death: Hodgkin’s disease

claim_to_fame: Writers and Poets

best_know_for: Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels which include Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). With the first four novels which interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century she achieved success as an author. She wrote two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. 200 years after her passing Austen continues to inspire many critical essays and literary anthologies. Her novels have inspired many films, from 1940's Pride and Prejudice to more recent productions like Sense and Sensibility (1995), Emma (1996), Mansfield Park (1999), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Love & Friendship (2016), and Emma (2020).