Amy Foster

Joseph Conrad was born on 3rd December 1857 in Berdychiv in the Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. His birthplace had been part of Poland which its neighbours dismembered into their own Empires. Conrad’s early years were spent in constant movement, his father was politically active and frequently in trouble trying to help re-ignite a Polish state which meant arrests and exile and the young Conrad himself suffered from ill-health, spending a year at a retreat in Kyiv recovering. By 11 he was orphaned. His education was mainly private and although he was a voracious reader, he was a poor academic student. Now, being raised by an uncle who wanted Conrad to have a worthwhile job, it was hoped that a merchant-marine career might bring out the best of him. At 16 he was sent to Marseille to embark on that adventure. Conrad himself was determined to be both a sailor and a great writer. Life on board a ship was full of adventures and experiences which included gun-running and close quarter encounters with political conspiracies. By his mid 30’s Conrad had returned to shore permanently to add his prodigious literary talents to full time writing. Although he wrote with a comprehensive command in English his spoken English was often cited as ‘horrible’. He was now also a British Citizen. Conrad brought to English Literature both narrative mastery, compelling prose and fully formed characters as well as a deeper examination of the human psyche in a wealth of work. He wrote many novels, short stories, nonfiction, and memoirs which are rightly regarded today as some of the finest in English literature. Jospeh Conrad died on the 3rd August 1924 at Bishopsbourne, Kent in England. He was 66.