Joseph Conrad Biography
Joseph Conrad was an English novelist. Jeffery Meyers; a talented biographic writer who wrote Edgar Allen Poe, Scott Fitzgerald, Gary Cooper, and Hemingway: Life into Art also wrote about Joseph Conrad in his book Joseph Conrad: A Biography. It is a very informative book about the life and works of Conrad. In his book, he wrote about Conrad's childhood (including his life with his family), his journeys, his books, the ending of his life and how he impacted other writers in their work.
Joseph Conrad was born in 1857 in a city in the Ukraine called Berdichev. This area used to be a part of Poland but at that time it was under Russian's rule. Even though it was under Russian government, Conrad is still considered Polish. His father's name was Apollo Korzeniowski. In fact, Conrad's original name was Josef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski. When Joseph was just a young chap, he would read Polish and French translations of English novels.
English: Joseph Conrad
English: Polish-British writer Joseph Conrad and t...
English: Villa Konstantynówka in Zakopane, place ...Then one day, his father got into a political difficulty and was sent into exile with his family to northern Russia. That was in 1861 when Conrad was only about four years old. When Joseph was only about thirteen years old (in 1869) both of his parents had died of tuberculosis. Because of the death of his parents, he was sent to live with his maternal uncle, Tadeusz Bobrowski. Conrad went to school in Krakow and persuaded his uncle to let him go to sea. Eventually, Tadeusz let him. As it says on page 29 of Jeffery Meyer's biography on Joseph Conrad, "His motives for going to sea were both practical and romantic." meaning Joseph had good solid reasons as well as yearning to become a sailor.
Conrad decided to join a French merchant marine...