Max Brod (; 27 May 1884 – 20 December 1968) was a

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n-born

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i author, composer, and journalist. He is notable for promoting the work of writer

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

and composer

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...

. Although he was a prolific writer in his own right, he is best remembered as the friend and biographer of Franz Kafka. Kafka named Brod as his

literary executor The literary estate of a deceased author consists mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including film rights, film, translation rights, original manuscripts of published work, unpublished or partially ...

, instructing Brod to burn his unpublished work upon his death. Brod refused and had Kafka's works published instead. In 1939, as the Nazis occupied

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, he immigrated to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, taking with him a suitcase of Kafka's papers, many of them unpublished notes, diaries, and sketches.

Biography

Max Brod was born in Prague, then part of the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, now the capital of the Czech Republic. At the age of four, Brod was diagnosed with a severe spinal curvature and spent a year in corrective harness; despite this he would be a hunchback his entire life. A German-speaking Jew, he attended the Piarist school together with his lifelong friend Felix Weltsch, later attended the Stephans Gymnasium, then studied law at the German Charles-Ferdinand University (which at the time was divided into a German and a

Czech language Czech ( ; ), historically known as Bohemian ( ; ), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 12 million people including second language speakers, it serves as the official language of the ...

university; he attended the German-speaking institution) and graduated in 1907 to work in the civil service. From 1912, he was a pronounced

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

(which he attributed to the influence of Martin Buber) and when Czechoslovakia became independent in 1918, he briefly served as vice-president of the ''Jüdischer Nationalrat''. From 1924, already an established writer, he worked as a critic for the '' Prager Tagblatt''. In 1939, as the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

took over Prague, Brod and his wife Elsa Taussig fled to

. He settled in Tel Aviv, where he continued to write and worked as a dramaturg for '' Habimah'', later the Israeli national theatre, for 30 years. For a period following the death of his wife in 1942, Brod published very few works. He became very close to a couple named Otto and Esther Hoffe, regularly taking vacations with the couple and employed Esther as a secretary for many years; it is often presumed that their relationship had a romantic dimension. He would later pass stewardship of the Kafka materials in his possession to Esther in his will. Another close companion was Felix Weltsch. Their friendship lasted 75 years, from the elementary school of the Piarists in Prague to Weltsch's death in 1964. He increasingly devoted himself to music, traveling to Europe to give lectures and to encourage young artists. Brod was also close to Israeli author Aharon Megged, with whom he had many philosophical discussions as they walked along the beachfront in Tel Aviv. Brod died on 20 December 1968 in Tel Aviv; his final resting place is the Trumpeldor Cemetery in Tel Aviv.

Literary career

Unlike Kafka, Brod rapidly became a prolific author who eventually published 83 titles. His first novel and fourth book overall, ''Schloss Nornepygge'' (''Nornepygge Castle''), published in 1908 when he was only 24, was celebrated in Berlin literary circles as a masterpiece of

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. This and other works made Brod a well-known personality in German-language literature. In 1913, together with Weltsch, he published the work ''Anschauung und Begriff'' which made him better known in Berlin and also in Leipzig, where their publisher Kurt Wolff worked. Brod was supportive of other writers and musicians. Among his protégés was Franz Werfel, whom he would later fall out with as Werfel abandoned Judaism for Christianity. He would also write at various times both for and against Karl Kraus, a convert from Judaism to Roman Catholicism. His critical endorsement would be crucial to the success of Jaroslav Hašek's '' The Good Soldier Svejk'', and he played a crucial role in the diffusion of

's operas.

Friendship with Kafka

Brod first met Kafka on 23 October 1902, when they were students at Charles University. Brod had given a lecture on

Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the Phenomenon, phenomenal world as ...

at the German students' hall. Kafka, one year older, addressed him after the lecture and accompanied him home. "He tended to participate in all the meetings, but up to then we had hardly considered each other," wrote Brod. The quiet Kafka "would have been... hard to notice... even his elegant, usually dark-blue, suits were inconspicuous and reserved like him. At that time, however, something seems to have attracted him to me, he was more open than usual, filling the endless walk home by disagreeing strongly with my all too rough formulations." From then on, Brod and Kafka met frequently, often even daily, and remained close friends until Kafka's death. Kafka was a frequent guest in Brod's parents' house. There he met his future girlfriend and fiancée Felice Bauer, cousin of Brod's brother-in-law Max Friedmann. After graduating, Brod worked for some time at the post office. The relatively short working hours gave him time to begin a career as an art critic and freelance writer. For similar reasons, Kafka took a job at an insurance agency involved in workmen's accident insurance. Brod, Kafka, and Brod's close friend Felix Weltsch constituted the so-called ''"enge Prager Kreis"'' or "close Prague circle". During Kafka's lifetime, Brod tried repeatedly to reassure him of his writing talents, of which Kafka was chronically doubtful. Brod pushed Kafka to publish his work, and it is probably owing to Brod that he began to keep a diary. Brod tried, but failed, to arrange common literary projects. Notwithstanding their inability to write in tandem – which stemmed from clashing literary and personal philosophies – they were able to publish one chapter from an attempted travelogue in May 1912, for which Kafka wrote the introduction. It was published in the journal ''Herderblätter''. Brod prodded his friend to complete the project several years later, but the effort was in vain. Even after Brod's 1913 marriage with Elsa Taussig, he and Kafka remained each other's closest friends and confidants, assisting each other in problems and life crises.

Publication of Kafka's work

On Kafka's death in 1924, Brod was the administrator of the estate. Although Kafka stipulated that all of his unpublished works were to be burned, Brod refused. He justified this move by stating that when Kafka personally told him to burn his unpublished work, Brod replied that he would outright refuse, and that "Franz should have appointed another executor if he had been absolutely and finally determined that his instructions should stand." Before even a line of Kafka's most celebrated works had been made public, Brod had already praised him as "the greatest poet of our time", ranking with

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

or Tolstoy. As Kafka's works were posthumously published ('' The Trial'' arrived in 1925, followed by '' The Castle'' in 1926 and '' Amerika'' in 1927), this early positive assessment was bolstered by more general critical acclaim. When Brod fled Prague in 1939, he took with him a suitcase of Kafka's papers, many of them unpublished notes, diaries, and sketches. Although some of these materials were later edited and published in 6 volumes of collected works, much of them remained unreleased. In 1961, at the request of Kafka's heirs (the daughters of his sisters), approximately two-thirds of Kafka's papers were given to the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

, at the University of Oxford. The rest of the papers remained integrated within Brod's literary estate. Upon his death, this trove of materials was passed to Esther Hoffe, who maintained most of them until her own death in 2007 (one original manuscript of ''The Trial'' was auctioned in 1988 for $2 million). Due to certain ambiguities regarding Brod's wishes, the proper disposition of the materials was being litigated. On one side was the

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; ; ), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; ), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Judaism, Jewish Cultural heritage, heritage. The library holds more ...

, which argued that Brod passed his literary estate (and Kafka's papers) to Esther as an executor of his actual intent to have the papers donated to the institution. On the other side were Esther's daughters, who claimed that Brod passed the papers to their mother as a pure inheritance which should be theirs. The sisters had announced their intention to sell the materials to the Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach, Germany, but the

Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...

ruled in favor of the National Library of Israel.

Music

Brod's musical compositions are little known. They include songs, works for piano and

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

for his plays. He is better known for helping bring composer

to public attention, by giving an opera of his a highly favourable review in a Berlin newspaper, translating some of his operas into German, and writing the first book on Janáček (first published in Czech in 1924). Brod also translated some of Bedřich Smetana's operas into German. He authored a study of

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

, ''Beispiel einer deutsch-jüdischen Symbiose'', in 1961. Brod had studied

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

under Alexander Uriah Boskovich. His book ''Die Musik Israels'', first published in 1951, which introduced the term "Musica Yam-tikhonit" (Mediterranean music) to define a prominent style in Israeli concert music of the era, shortly before Boskovich published essays which provided an extended definition of this style.

Awards and recognition

In 1948, Brod was awarded the Bialik Prize for

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. In 1965, Brod was awarded the Honor Gift of the

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

Society in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, Germany. In 1965, he was awarded the

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Austria, Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science a ...

and was the first Israeli citizen to be awarded it.

Published works

* ''Schloß Nornepygge'' (''Nornepygge Castle'', 1908) * ''Weiberwirtschaft'' (''Woman's Work'', 1913) * ''Über die Schönheit häßlicher Bilder'' (''On the Beauty of Ugly Pictures'', 1913) * ''Die Höhe des Gefühls'' (''The Height of Feeling'', 1913) * ''Anschauung und Begriff: Grundzüge eines Systems der Begriffsbildung'', 1913 (together with Felix Weltsch) * ''Tycho Brahes Weg zu Gott'' (''

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, ; 14 December 154624 October 1601), generally called Tycho for short, was a Danish astronomer of the Renaissance, known for his comprehensive and unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations. He ...

's Path to God'' 1915) * ''Heidentum, Christentum, Judentum: Ein Bekenntnisbuch'' (''Paganism, Christianity, Judaism: A Credo'', 1921) * ''Sternenhimmel: Musik- und Theatererlebnisse'' (1923, reissued as ''Prager Sternenhimmel'') * ''Reubeni, Fürst der Juden'' (''Reubeni, Prince of the Jews'', 1925) * ''Zauberreich der Liebe'' (''The Charmed Realm of Love'', 1930) * ''Biografie von Heinrich Heine'' (''Biography of

'', 1934). Subtitled ''The Artist in Revolt'', it was first published in English in 1957 in a revised version translated by Joseph Witriol * ''Die Frau, die nicht enttäuscht'' (''The Woman Who Does Not Disappoint'', 1934) * ''Novellen aus Böhmen'' (''Novellas from Bohemia'', 1936) * ''Rassentheorie und Judentum'' (''Race Theory and Judaism'', 1936) * ''Annerl'' (''Annie'', 1937) * ''Franz Kafka, eine Biographie'' (''Franz Kafka, a Biography'', 1937, later collected in ''Über Franz Kafka'', 1974) * ''Franz Kafkas Glauben und Lehre'' (''Franz Kafka's Thought and Teaching'', 1948) * ''Die Musik Israels'' (''The Music of Israel'', Tel Aviv, 1951; second edition, with Yehuda W. Cohen, 1976) * ''Beinahe ein Vorzugsschüler, oder pièce touchée: Roman eines unauffälligen Menschen'' (''Almost a Gifted Pupil'', 1952) * ''Die Frau, nach der man sich sehnt'' (''The Woman For Whom One Longs'', 1953) * ''Rebellische Herzen'' (''Rebellious Hearts'', 1957) * ''Verzweiflung und Erlösung im Werke Franz Kafkas'' (''Despair and Redemption in the Works of Franz Kafka'', 1959) * ''Beispiel einer deutsch-jüdischen Symbiose'' (''An Example of German-Jewish Symbiosis'', 1961) * ''Johannes Reuchlin und sein Kampf'' (''Eine Historische Monographie'', 1965) * ''Der Prager Kreis'' (''The Prague Circle'', 1966) * ''Die verkaufte Braut'', translation of the Czech libretto of ''Prodaná nevěsta'' ( The Bartered Bride, a comic opera by Bedřich Smetana), and numerous other translations of Czech opera libretti * ''Über Franz Kafka'', (Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, 1974)

Selected filmography

* '' The Woman One Longs For'' (1929)

References

External links

* *
Digitized works by Max Brod
at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brod, Max 1884 births 1968 deaths Writers from Prague Musicians from Prague Jews from Bohemia Czechoslovak Jews 20th-century Czech Jews Czechoslovak emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine Jewish Czech writers Israeli people of Czech-Jewish descent 20th-century Austrian novelists 20th-century classical composers Austrian classical composers 20th-century Austrian translators Writers from Austria-Hungary Czech Zionists Czech writers in German Exilliteratur writers Franz Kafka scholars Jewish classical composers Austrian male novelists Austrian biographers Israeli biographers Czech biographers Male biographers Charles University alumni Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery 20th-century Austrian journalists 20th-century translators Austrian Zionists Bialik Prize recipients