receives a doctorate in law from German-speaking Karl Ferdinand University.

1907 Kafka begins writing “Wedding Preparations in the Coun try,” a novel that he will abandon but that contains the germ of “The Metamorphosis”; both involve the transfor mation of a human character into a lowly, despised crea ture.

1908 Shunning the practice of law, Kafka secures a position at the semi-governmental Workmen’s Accident Insurance Administration, where he works until his retirement in 1922.

1910 Kafka begins to keep a regular diary, a decision that lends discipline and seriousness to his writing. The perform ances of a Yiddish theater group from Poland captivate and inspire him; he later adopts a dramatic structure for “The Metamorphosis,” dividing it into three parts, like acts of a play.

1911 By night Kafka does his own writing, and by day he com piles insurance manuals and policies. He develops a friendship with Yiddish actor Isak Löwy; Kafka’s father, without knowing Löwy, compares him to vermin, a meta phor that features heavily in Kafka’s fiction, especially “The Metamorphosis.” Hitherto indifferent to his parents’ religion, Kafka studies Jewish folklore and becomes fas cinated by his Jewish heritage, an appreciation that will increase throughout his life. Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Sym phony, Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth), is performed for the first time.

1912 Kafka meets Felice Bauer, from Berlin, when she visits Max Brod’s family. An extensive correspondence ensues, in which Kafka attempts to at once woo Felice and keep her at arm’s length. He feverishly composes “The Judg ment” in a single September night; of all his literary ac complishments, Kafka finds this the most satisfying. Soon after, Kafka completes “The Stoker,” the story of a young German immigrant that later becomes the first chapter of his novel Amerika, and “The Metamorphosis,” his tale of a man literally and symbolically transformed into an insect. Thomas Mann publishes Death in Venice.

1913 “The Judgment” and “The Stoker” are published. The sec ond Balkan War begins. Kafka meets Felice’s friend Grete Bloch, with whom he corresponds, writing mostly about Felice.

1914 Franz and Felice are engaged, but within a month the engagement is broken. Archduke Ferdinand is assassi nated at Sarajevo, setting in motion events that culminate in World War I. After a two-year period of creative ste rility, Kafka writes the parable “In the Penal Colony,” followed by “Before the Law,” a sketch from his novel in progress, The Trial.

1915 “The Metamorphosis” is published. Kafka receives the prestigious Fontane Prize for “The Stoker.”

1916 He writes a series of stories that will be collected and published in the volume A Country Doctor (1919).

1917 Kafka begins learning Hebrew. He becomes engaged to Felice Bauer a second time; diagnosed with tuberculosis, he ends the relationship. Kafka takes a leave of absence from his job, and his diary entries cease. The Balfour Dec laration approves the establishment of a Jewish national state in Palestine.

1918 Kafka studies the metaphysical writings of Johann Wolf gang von Goethe, Søren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopen hauer, and Leo Tolstoy, and continues his exploration of the Old Testament and Jewish folklore. He writes apho risms based in part of these studies.

1919 A Country Doctor is published, as is “In the Penal Colony.” In the wake of the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazi party is founded in Germany, as is the Fascist party in Italy. Kafka becomes engaged to Julie Wohryzek, the daughter of a worker in a synagogue. Kafka’s father objects on social grounds and convinces Kafka to break the en gagement. This action, more than any other, precipitates Kafka’s most autobiographical work, “Letter to His Fa ther.”

1920 Kafka meets the Czech writer Milena Jesenská-Pollak, with whom he becomes romantically involved. Milena translates several of Kafka’s works into Czech. She ends the affair in August.

1921 Kafka starts writing the stories that will be collected in the volume A Hunger Artist (1924), centered on the difficul ties an artist faces in coming to terms with human society. While seeking to restore his health at the Tatra Mountains sanatorium, Kafka meets Hungarian medical student Robert Klopstock, who becomes his friend and physician.

1922 The insurance agency grants Kafka’s request for early re tirement.

1923 Kafka meets Dora Diamant, a Jewish socialist twenty years his junior. He moves to Berlin with her, hoping to devote himself fully to writing. Kafka asks Dora’s father for her hand in marriage but is rejected based on a rabbi’s coun sel, perhaps because of his deteriorating health.

1924 A Hunger Artist is published. Kafka’s rapidly declining health and his lack