Arthur Koestler

Koestler, Arthur (Koestler, Arthur) (1905-1983), English writer (he wrote also in German and Hungarian languages). Born September 5, 1905 in Budapest in a family originating from Russia, studied the sciences at the University of Vienna, but the course did not finish. In 1926, permeated with the ideology of Zionism, went to Palestine. For some time he worked in Germany, the editor in a newspaper concern 'Ulshtayn', according to his instructions participated as a correspondent in the Arctic expedition on the airship "Graf Zeppelin" (1931). Another passion has led Koestler the Communist Party of Germany, in 1932-1933 he traveled to the USSR. Impressions of a foreign correspondent in the Spanish Civil War were reflected in the autobiographical book "The Spanish Testament" (Spanish Testament, 1938), written in prison Franco. The fate of the leader of the rebel Roman slave Spartacus in his first novel, "Gladiators" (The Gladiators, 1939) was the starting point for discerning judgments about the destructive nature of power.

Koestler has created a name for itself novel "dazzling darkness" (Darkness at Noon, 1941), telling about the terrible fate of the old Bolshevik, which the NKVD compelled to incriminate himself in a state crime. The book reflected the author's attitude to repression in the USSR, 1936-1938, in 1938, he left the Communist Party. His other books on political themes: "The Age of the aspirations" (The Age of Longing, . 1951) - a novel about the political dilemmas of modern Europe, "Earth scum" (Scum of the Earth, . 1941) - the author about his experiences in a French concentration camp at the beginning of the Second World War, the Arrow in the sky "(Arrow in the Blue, . 1952) and "invisible writing" (The Invisible Writing, . 1954), . totaled frank and free autobiography, and finally a collection of political essays, "The Yogi and the Commissar" (The Yogi and the Comissar, . 1945),
. In the late 1950 Koestler left political themes and took a philosophical analysis of art, science, society and religion.

Koestler died in London on 4 March 1983.