Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad

Born in Berdichev, Ukraine, on December 3, 1857: Joseph Conrad, the son of Apollo Korzeniowski, who worked as a translator of English and French literature. While still a boy, young Joseph enjoyed significant exposure to literature and the arts.

In 1861, Conrad's family was exiled to Northern Russia as a result of his father's political activities. In 1869, both of his parents died of tuberculosis, and Conrad emigrated to Switzerland to live with his uncle. He attended school in Kraków, but he had always dreamed about going to sea.

Finally given the chance, he joined the French merchant marines and, while working on a ship, sailed to the West Indies where he was involved in arms smuggling. Eventually, he joined the British merchant navy and climbed quickly through the ranks. By 1886, he had command of his own ship and received British citizenship.

Throughout his life on the sea, Conrad saw parts of the world that most people only dream about. He visited Australia, various islands in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, and South America. He even sailed up the Congo River in Africa.

One day, during one of his journeys, one of his passengers--novelist John Galsworthy--heard about Conrad's writing and asked to see a sample. After reading a manuscript Conrad had been working on, Galsworthy encouraged him to try to get it published, and he did so. The result was Almayer's Folly.

In 1894, at the age of 36, Conrad decided to leave the sea behind him, and he settled in Kent, England. Two years later, he married an Englishwoman by the name of Jessie George, and they eventually had two sons.

As a family man, he mostly stayed at home, pounding out novels, including The Heart of Darkness (1902) and Nostromo (1904). He continued writing for the rest of his life, publishing his last work, The Nature of Crime, in 1924. Joseph Conrad died of a heart attack on August 3, 1924.

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