A hundred years ago, on June 2, 1924, Franz Kafka wrote the following in a deathbed letter to his parents: “… And then ‘a good glass of beer’ together, as you write, from which I infer that Father doesn’t think much of this year’s wine, and I agree with him as regards the beer. By the way, in the heat, I often recall us regularly drinking beer together, many years ago, when Father would take me to the Civilian Swimming Pool.” By this time, however, Kafka was suffering from laryngeal tuberculosis, which caused great pain whenever he tried to swallow. He apparently found some relief taking sips of beer.

“My life consists, and has basically always consisted, of attempts at writing, mostly unsuccessful. But if I didn’t write, I’d already be flat on the floor, ready to be swept out with garbage.”

June the 3rd 2024 marks 100 years since the passing of Franz Kafka, the celebrated Prague German Jewish writer. He died aged 40 in a sanatorium in Kierling near Vienna on June 3, 1924. Kafka regarded books as a narcotic and non-writing writers as monsters courting insanity. He posthumously achieved worldwide fame and literally became the ‘cultural brand’ of the Czech Republic.

Milena Jesenská was the first translator of Kafka’s works into Czech and was to become one of the central female figures in his life. At the end of April 1920, her translation of Kafka’s short story “The Stoker” appeared in the Prague literary magazine Kmen [The Stem], a copy of which was sent to Kafka in May. Wishing to remain in written contact with Milena, he later wrote the following: “I wanted to hear from you and not the all-too-familiar voice from the old grave… In any case, the story is abysmally bad, which I could prove to you, dear Frau Milena, with unparalleled ease… Naturally the fact that you like the story gives it some value, although it also makes my view of the world a little dimmer.”