The Estate of Franz Kafka

The disposition of the literary estate of Franz Kafka is metamorphosing into a dispute that may take many years to resolve.

Here are the details summarized from Ethan Bronner, Under ‘Kafkaesque’ Pressure, Heir to Kafka Papers May Yield Them, NY Times, Aug. 17, 2008:

• Franz Kafka died in 1924.
• Kafka’s will requested that his friend, Max Brod, burn his papers.
• Max ignored Kafka’s request and retained Kafka’s papers for himself.
• Max died in 1968 with a will leaving Kafka’s papers to his secretary, Esther Hoffe.
• Hoffe sold the manuscript for The Trial for $2 million.
• Hoffe died in 2007 at age 101.
• Hoffe’s daughters, Hava and Ruth, are in the process of deciding what do with Kafka’s papers the contents of which are uncertain.
• Scholars wonder whether Have and Ruth will sell the collection, donate the collection, or keep it in their families.
• The papers are now in Israel and there are laws restricting the removal of certain papers from the country without the permitting the national archives an opportunity to register and copy them.
• Hava seems to be the “in charge” daughter who will have the greater impact on the disposition of the papers.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this development to my attention.