Franz Kafka

1883, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic) — 1924

Franz Kafka is known for The Trial and The Metamorphosis, works that explore alienation, bureaucracy, and the absurdity of power. His works were banned and burned under Nazi regimes due to his Jewish heritage. Kafka himself died before this censorship — he did not live to see his writing suppressed — but his legacy became emblematic of literature persecuted by authoritarian states.