Arthur Koestler, (, ; ; hu, Kösztler Artúr; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was a Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria. In 1931, Koestler joined the
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
, but he resigned in 1938 after becoming disillusioned with
Stalinism
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...
.
Having moved to Britain in 1940, he published his novel ''
Darkness at Noon
''Darkness at Noon'' (german: link=no, Sonnenfinsternis) is a novel by Hungarian-born novelist Arthur Koestler, first published in 1940. His best known work, it is the tale of Rubashov, an Old Bolshevik who is arrested, imprisoned, and tried f ...
'', an anti-
totalitarian
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...
work that gained him international fame. Over the next 43 years, Koestler espoused many political causes and wrote novels, memoirs, biographies, and numerous essays. In 1949, Koestler began secretly working with a British Cold War anti-communist propaganda department known as the
Information Research Department
The Information Research Department (IRD) was a secret Cold War propaganda department of the British Foreign Office, created to publish anti-communist propaganda, including black propaganda, provide support and information to anti-communist pol ...
(IRD), which would republish and distribute many of his works, and also fund his activities.
In 1968, he was awarded the
Sonning Prize
The Sonning Prize ( da, Sonningprisen) is a Danish culture prize awarded biennially for outstanding contributions to European culture. It is named after the Danish editor and author Carl Johan Sonning (1879–1937), who established the prize by h ...
"for
isoutstanding contribution to European culture". In 1972 he was made a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE).
In 1976, he was diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
and in 1979 with terminal
leukaemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...
. On March1, 1983, Koestler and his wife Cynthia took their lives at their London home by swallowing lethal quantities of
barbiturate
Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological addiction potential as we ...
-based
Tuinal
Tuinal was the brand name of a discontinued combination drug composed of two barbiturate salts (secobarbital sodium and amobarbital sodium) in equal proportions.
Tuinal was introduced as a sedative-hypnotic (sleeping pill) medication in the late ...
capsules.
Life
Origins and early life
Koestler was born in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
to Jewish parents Henrik and Adele Koestler (''née'' Jeiteles). He was an only child. His father Henrik Koestler was born on 18 August 1869 in the town of
Miskolc
Miskolc ( , , ; Czech language, Czech and sk, Miškovec; german: Mischkolz; yi, script=Latn, Mishkoltz; ro, Mișcolț) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 (1 Jan 2014) Miskolc is the ...
in northeastern Hungary. His paternal grandfather Lipót Koestler, was a soldier in the
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...
.
[
] In 1861 he married Karolina Schon, the daughter of a prosperous timber merchant. Their son Henrik was born several years later. Henrik left school at age 16 and took a job as an errand boy with a firm of drapers. He taught himself English, German and French, and eventually became a partner in the firm. He set up his own business importing textiles into Hungary.
Arthur's mother, Adele Jeiteles, was born on 25 June 1871 into a prominent
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
. Among her ancestors was
Jonas Mischel Loeb Jeitteles, a prominent 18th-century physician and essayist, whose son
Juda Jeitteles became a well-known poet. Beethoven set some of his poems to music. Adele's father, Jacob Jeiteles, moved the family to
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, where she grew up in relative prosperity until about 1890. Faced with financial difficulties, her father abandoned his wife and daughter, and emigrated to the United States.
Adele and her mother moved from Vienna to Budapest to stay with Adele's older married sister. Although Koestler "liked later to claim his family had flared up from nothing into sudden wealth and then vanished just as fast into exile or the gas chambers... It wasn't true: his mother was from one of the richest Jewish families in Austro-Hungary."
Henrik Koestler met Adele in 1898 and married her in 1900. Arthur, their only child, was born on 5 September 1905. The Koestlers lived in spacious, well-furnished, rented apartments in various predominantly Jewish districts of Budapest. During Arthur's early years, they employed a cook/housekeeper, as well as a foreign governess. His primary school education started at an experimental private kindergarten founded by Laura Striker (''née''
Polányi). Her daughter
Eva Striker later became Koestler's lover, and they remained friends all his life.
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 deprived Koestler's father of foreign suppliers and his business collapsed. Facing destitution, the family moved temporarily to a boarding house in Vienna. When the war ended, the family returned to Budapest.
As noted in Koestler's autobiography, he and his family were sympathetic to the short-lived
Hungarian Bolshevik Revolution of 1919. Though the small soap factory owned at the time by Koestler's father was nationalised, the elder Koestler was appointed its director by the revolutionary government and was well-paid. Even though the autobiography was published in 1953, after Koestler had become an outspoken anti-Communist, he wrote favourably of the Hungarian Communists and their leader
Béla Kun
Béla Kun (born Béla Kohn; 20 February 1886 – 29 August 1938) was a Hungarian communist revolutionary and politician who governed the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919. After attending Franz Joseph University at Kolozsvár (today Cluj-Napoc ...
. He fondly recalled the hopes for a better future he had felt as a teenager in revolutionary Budapest.
Later the Koestlers witnessed the temporary occupation of Budapest by the
Romanian Army
The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...
and then the
White Terror
White Terror is the name of several episodes of mass violence in history, carried out against anarchists, communists, socialists, liberals, revolutionaries, or other opponents by conservative or nationalist groups. It is sometimes contrasted wit ...
under the
right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
regime of
Admiral Horthy
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
. In 1920 the family returned to Vienna, where Henrik set up a successful new import business.
In September 1922 Arthur enrolled in the
Vienna Polytechnic University to study engineering, and joined a
Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules.
During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...
ling student fraternity, 'Unitas.' . When Henrik's latest business failed, Koestler stopped attending lectures, and was expelled for non-payment of fees. In March 1926 he wrote a letter to his parents telling them that he was going to
Mandate Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...
for a year to work as an assistant engineer in a factory, in order to gain experience to help him obtain a job in Austria. On 1 April 1926 he left Vienna for
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
.
Palestine, Paris, Berlin and polar flight, 1926–1931
For a few weeks Koestler lived in a
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
, but his application to join the collective (''
Kvutzat Heftziba
Heftziba ( he, חֶפְצִיבָּהּ) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the boundaries of the Jezreel and Beit She'an Valleys between the cities of Afula and Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. ...
'') was rejected by its members. For the next twelve months he supported himself with menial jobs in
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
,
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. Frequently penniless and starving, he often depended on friends and acquaintances for survival. He occasionally wrote or edited broadsheets and other publications, mostly in German. In early 1927 he left Palestine briefly for
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, where he ran the Secretariat of
Ze'ev Jabotinsky
Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...
's Revisionist Party.
Later that year, through a friend, Koestler obtained the position of Middle East correspondent for the prestigious Berlin-based
Ullstein-Verlag
The ''Ullstein Verlag'' was founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 at Berlin and is one of the largest publishing companies of Germany. It published newspapers like '' B.Z.'' and ''Berliner Morgenpost'' and books through its subsidiaries ''Ullstein B ...
group of newspapers. He returned to Jerusalem, where for the next two years he produced detailed political essays, as well as some lighter reportage, for his principal employer and for other newspapers. He was resident at this time at 29 Rehov Hanevi'im, in Jerusalem. He travelled extensively, interviewed heads of state, kings, presidents and prime ministers, and greatly enhanced his reputation as a journalist. As noted in his autobiography, he came to realise that he would never really fit into Palestine's Zionist Jewish community, the
Yishuv
Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the s ...
, and particularly that he would not be able to have a journalistic career in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
.
In June 1929, while on leave in Berlin, Koestler successfully lobbied at Ullstein for a transfer away from Palestine. In September he was sent to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
to fill a vacancy in the bureau of the Ullstein News Service. In 1931, he was called to Berlin and appointed science editor of the ''
Vossische Zeitung
The (''Voss's Newspaper'') was a nationally-known Berlin newspaper that represented the interests of the liberal middle class. It was also generally regarded as Germany's national newspaper of record. In the Berlin press it held a special role d ...
'' and science adviser to the Ullstein newspaper empire. In July 1931, he was Ullstein's choice to represent the paper on board the ''
Graf Zeppelins week-long polar flight, which carried a team of scientists and the polar aviator
Lincoln Ellsworth
Lincoln Ellsworth (May 12, 1880 – May 26, 1951) was a polar explorer from the United States and a major benefactor of the American Museum of Natural History.
Biography
Lincoln Ellsworth was born on May 12, 1880, to James Ellsworth and Eva F ...
to 82 degrees North and back. Koestler was the only journalist on board: his live wireless broadcasts, and subsequent articles and lecture tours throughout Europe, brought him further kudos. Soon afterwards he was appointed foreign editor and assistant editor-in-chief of the mass-circulation ''Berliner Zeitung am Mittag''.
In 1931, Koestler, encouraged by
Eva Striker, and impressed by the achievements of the Soviet Union, became a supporter of
Marxism-Leninism. On 31 December 1931, he applied for membership of the
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
. As noted in his biography, he was disappointed in the conduct of the ''
Vossische Zeitung
The (''Voss's Newspaper'') was a nationally-known Berlin newspaper that represented the interests of the liberal middle class. It was also generally regarded as Germany's national newspaper of record. In the Berlin press it held a special role d ...
'', "The Flagship of German Liberalism", which adapted to changing times by firing Jewish journalists, hiring writers with marked German Nationalist views, and dropping its longstanding campaign against capital punishment. Koestler concluded that Liberals and moderate Democrats could not stand up against the rising
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
tide and that the Communists were the only real counter-force.
1930s
Koestler wrote a book on the
Soviet Five-Year Plan, but it did not meet with the approval of the Soviet authorities and was never published in Russian. Only the German version, extensively censored, was published in an edition for German-speaking Soviet citizens.
In 1932 Koestler travelled in
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
and Central Asia. In September 1933 he returned to Paris and for the next two years was active in anti-Fascist movements. He wrote propaganda under the direction of
Willi Münzenberg
Wilhelm "Willi" Münzenberg (14 August 1889, Erfurt, Germany – June 1940, Saint-Marcellin, France) was a German Communist political activist and publisher. Münzenberg was the first head of the Young Communist International in 1919–20 and est ...
, the Comintern's chief propaganda director in the West.
In 1935 Koestler married Dorothy Ascher, a fellow Communist activist. They separated amicably in 1937.
In 1936, during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, he undertook a visit to General
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
's headquarters in
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
on behalf of the
Comintern
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
, pretending to be a Franco sympathiser and using credentials from the London daily ''
News Chronicle
The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 be ...
'' as cover. He collected evidence of the direct involvement of
Fascist Italy and
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
on Franco's side, which at that time the Nationalist rebels were still trying to conceal. He had to escape after he was recognised and denounced as a Communist by a German former colleague. Back in France he wrote ''L'Espagne Ensanglantée'', which was later incorporated into his book ''Spanish Testament''.
In 1937 he returned to
Loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
Spain as a war correspondent for the ''News Chronicle'', and was in
Málaga
Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...
when it fell to Mussolini's troops, who were fighting on the side of the Nationalists. He took refuge in the house of retired zoologist
Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell
Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell (23 November 1864 – 2 July 1945) was a Scottish zoologist who was Secretary of the Zoological Society of London from 1903 to 1935. During this time, he directed the policy of the Zoological Gardens of London and c ...
, and they were both arrested by Franco's chief propagandist,
Luis Bolín
Luis Antonio Bolín Bidwell (1894 Málaga – 3 September 1969) was a Spanish lawyer, journalist and an expert in tour operating. This led to his appointment as Head of the National Union of Catering and Allied Attorney in Parliament during the fi ...
, who had sworn that if he ever got his hands on Koestler, he would "shoot him like a dog". From February until June, Koestler was imprisoned in
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
under sentence of death. He was eventually exchanged for a "high value" Nationalist prisoner held by the Loyalists, the wife of one of Franco's ace fighter pilots. Koestler was one of the few authors to have been sentenced to death, an experience he wrote about in ''Dialogue with Death''. As he noted in his autobiography, his estranged wife Dorothy Ascher had greatly contributed to saving his life by intensive, months-long lobbying on his behalf in Britain. When he went to Britain after his release, the couple tried to resume their marriage, but Koestler's gratitude to her proved an insufficient foundation for a daily life together.
Koestler returned to France, where he agreed to write a sex encyclopaedia to earn money to live on. It was published to great success under the title ''
The Encyclopœdia of Sexual Knowledge'', under the pseudonyms of "Drs A. Costler, A. Willy, and Others".
In July 1938 Koestler finished work on his novel ''
The Gladiators.'' Later that year he resigned from the Communist Party and started work on a new novel, which was published in London under the title ''
Darkness at Noon
''Darkness at Noon'' (german: link=no, Sonnenfinsternis) is a novel by Hungarian-born novelist Arthur Koestler, first published in 1940. His best known work, it is the tale of Rubashov, an Old Bolshevik who is arrested, imprisoned, and tried f ...
'' (1941). Also in 1938 he became editor of ''
Die Zukunft
''Die Zukunft'' ("''The Future''") has been the name of three newspapers.
''Die Zukunft'' was a German social-democratic weekly (1892–1923) founded and edited by Maximilian Harden. It published allegations of homosexuality of Philipp, Prince ...
'' (The Future), a German-language weekly published in Paris. Koestler's breaking with the Communist Party may have been influenced by the similar step taken by his fellow activist
Willi Münzenberg
Wilhelm "Willi" Münzenberg (14 August 1889, Erfurt, Germany – June 1940, Saint-Marcellin, France) was a German Communist political activist and publisher. Münzenberg was the first head of the Young Communist International in 1919–20 and est ...
.
In 1939 Koestler met and formed an attachment to the British sculptor
Daphne Hardy. They lived together in Paris, and she translated the manuscript of ''Darkness at Noon'' from German into English in early 1940. She smuggled it out of France when they left ahead of the German occupation and arranged for its publication after reaching London that year.
War years
After the outbreak of World War II, Koestler returned from the South of France to Paris. He attempted to turn himself in to the authorities as a foreign national several times and was finally arrested on 2 October 1939. The French government first detained Koestler at
Stade Roland Garros
Stade Roland Garros (; "Roland Garros Stadium") is a complex of tennis courts, including stadiums, located in Paris that hosts the French Open. That tournament, also known as ''Roland Garros'', is a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis champio ...
until he was moved to
Le Vernet Internment Camp among other "undesirable aliens", most of them refugees. He was released in early 1940 in response to strong British pressure.
Milicent Bagot
Milicent Jessie Eleanor Bagot, Order of the British Empire, CBE (28 March 1907 – 26 May 2006) was a British intelligence officer. She was the purported model for the character Connie Sachs, the eccentric Sovietology expert who appeared in John ...
, an intelligence officer at
MI5
The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...
, recommended his release from Camp Vernet, but said that he should not be granted a British visa. (
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...
used Bagot as a model for
Connie Sachs Connie Sachs is a fictional character created by John le Carré. Sachs plays a key supporting role in the Karla Trilogy, ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', and ''Smiley's People''.
Biography
Sachs is an eccentric alcoho ...
in his spy novels featuring "George Smiley". Bagot was the first to warn that
Kim Philby
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 191211 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963 he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring which had divulged British secr ...
of
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
was probably spying for the USSR.) Koestler describes the period 1939 to 1940 and his incarceration in Le Vernet in his memoir ''
Scum of the Earth''.
Shortly before the German invasion of France, Koestler joined the
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...
in order to get out of the country. He deserted in North Africa and tried to return to England. He heard a false report that the ship on which Hardy was travelling had sunk, and that she and his manuscript were lost. He attempted
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
, but survived.
Arriving in the UK without an entry permit, Koestler was imprisoned pending examination of his case. He was still in prison when Daphne Hardy's English translation of his book ''
Darkness at Noon
''Darkness at Noon'' (german: link=no, Sonnenfinsternis) is a novel by Hungarian-born novelist Arthur Koestler, first published in 1940. His best known work, it is the tale of Rubashov, an Old Bolshevik who is arrested, imprisoned, and tried f ...
'' was published in early 1941.
Immediately after Koestler was released, he volunteered for Army service. While awaiting his call-up papers, between January and March 1941, he wrote his memoir ''Scum of the Earth'', the first book he wrote in English. For the next twelve months he served in the
Pioneer Corps.
![PikiWiki Israel 3461 People of Israel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/PikiWiki_Israel_3461_People_of_Israel.jpg)
In March 1942 Koestler was assigned to the
Ministry of Information, where he worked as a scriptwriter for propaganda broadcasts and films. In his spare time he wrote ''
Arrival and Departure
''Arrival and Departure'' (1943) is the third novel of Arthur Koestler's trilogy concerning the conflict between morality and expedience (as described in the postscript to the novel's 1966 Danube Edition). The first volume, '' The Gladiators'' ...
'', the third in his trilogy of novels that included ''Darkness at Noon''. He also wrote several essays, which were subsequently collected and published in ''
The Yogi and the Commissar
''The Yogi and the Commissar'' (1945) is a collection of essays of Arthur Koestler, divided in three parts: Meanderings, Exhortations and Explorations. In the first two parts he has collected essays written from 1942 to 1945 and the third part was ...
''. One of the essays, titled "On Disbelieving Atrocities" (originally published in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''), was about the Nazi atrocities against the Jews.
Daphne Hardy, who had been doing war work in Oxford, joined Koestler in London in 1943, but they parted company a few months later. They remained good friends until Koestler's death.
In December 1944 Koestler travelled to Palestine with accreditation from ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
''. There he had a clandestine meeting with
Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...
, the head of the
Irgun
Irgun • Etzel
, image = Irgun.svg , image_size = 200px
, caption = Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" i ...
paramilitary organisation, who was wanted by the British and had a 500-pound bounty on his head. Koestler tried to persuade him to abandon militant attacks and accept a two-state solution for Palestine, but failed. Many years later Koestler wrote in his memoirs: "When the meeting was over, I realised how naïve I had been to imagine that my arguments would have even the slightest influence."
Staying in Palestine until August 1945, Koestler collected material for his next novel, ''
Thieves in the Night.'' When he returned to England, Mamaine Paget, whom he had started to see before going out to Palestine, was waiting for him. In August 1945 the couple moved to the cottage of Bwlch Ocyn, a secluded farmhouse that belonged to
Clough Williams-Ellis
Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. He became a major figure in the development of Welsh architec ...
, in the
Vale of Ffestiniog
The Vale of Ffestiniog is a valley in the Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, North Wales. It stretches from Ffestiniog in the east and runs in a westerly direction towards Tremadog Bay, terminating near Porthmadog. The Afon Dwyryd runs through ...
. Over the next three years, Koestler became a close friend of writer
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
. The region had its own intellectual circle, which would have been sympathetic to Koestler: Williams-Ellis' wife, Amabel, a niece of
Lytton Strachey
Giles Lytton Strachey (; 1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of ''Eminent Victorians'', he established a new form of biography in which psychological insight ...
, was also a former communist; other associates included
Rupert Crawshay-Williams,
Michael Polanyi
Michael Polanyi (; hu, Polányi Mihály; 11 March 1891 – 22 February 1976) was a Hungarian-British polymath, who made important theoretical contributions to physical chemistry, economics, and philosophy. He argued that positivism supplies ...
,
Storm Jameson
Margaret Ethel Storm Jameson (8 January 1891 – 30 September 1986) was an English journalist and author, known for her novels and reviews and for her work as President of English PEN between 1938 and 1944.
Life and career
Jameson was born in W ...
and, most significantly,
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
, who lived just a few miles from the Koestler cottage.
Post-war years
In 1948, when
war broke out between the newly declared State of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and the neighbouring Arab states, Koestler was accredited by several newspapers, American, British and French, and travelled to Israel. Mamaine Paget went with him. They arrived in Israel on 4 June and stayed there until October. Later that year they decided to leave the UK for a while and move to France. News that his long-pending application for
British nationality
British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...
had been granted reached him in France in late December; early in 1949 he returned to London to swear the
oath of allegiance
An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. For ...
to the
British Crown
The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...
.
In January 1949 Koestler and Paget moved to a house he had bought in France. There he wrote a contribution to ''
The God That Failed'' and finished work on ''Promise and Fulfilment: Palestine 1917-1949''. The latter book received poor reviews in both the U.S. and the UK. In 1949 he also published the non-fiction ''Insight and Outlook''. This too received lukewarm reviews. In July Koestler began work on ''
Arrow in the Blue'', the first volume of his autobiography. He hired a new part-time secretary, Cynthia Jefferies, who replaced
Daphne Woodward
Daphne Woodward was a translator of French literature into the English language.
In particular, she was responsible for translating eight books in the Inspector Maigret series by the Belgian detective writer Georges Simenon. These were commission ...
. Cynthia and Koestler eventually married. In the autumn he started work on ''The Age of Longing'', on which he continued to work until mid-1950.
Koestler had reached agreement with his first wife, Dorothy, on an amicable divorce, and their marriage was dissolved on 15 December 1949. This cleared the way for his marriage to Mamaine Paget, which took place on 15 April 1950 at the British Consulate in Paris.
In June Koestler delivered a major anti-Communist speech in Berlin under the auspices of the
Congress for Cultural Freedom
The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist advocacy group founded in 1950. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the CIA was instrumental in the establishment and funding of the ...
, an organisation funded (though he did not know this) by the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA) of the United States. In the autumn he went to the United States on a lecture tour, during which he lobbied for permanent resident status in the U.S. At the end of October, on impulse, he bought
Island Farm
Island Farm, also called Camp 198, was a prisoner of war camp on the outskirts of the town of Bridgend, South Wales. It hosted a number of Axis prisoners, mainly German, and was the scene of the largest escape attempt by German POWs in Britain d ...
, a small island with a house on it on the
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
near
New Hope, Pennsylvania
New Hope is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,612 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. New Hope is located approximately north of Philadelphia, and lies on the west bank of the Delaw ...
. He intended to live there at least for part of each year.
[Cesarani pp. 375–376.]
In January 1951 a dramatised version of ''Darkness at Noon'', by
Sidney Kingsley
Sidney Kingsley (22 October 1906 – 20 March 1995) was an American dramatist. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' Men in White'' in 1934.
Life and career
Kingsley was born Sidney Kirschner in New York. He studied at ...
, opened in New York. It won the
New York Drama Critics Award
The New York Drama Critics Awards (formed 1943) are awarded through the composite opinion of a sample of New York Drama Critics to recognize Excellence in Broadway Theater. Awards are given each season for Best Performance by an Actor, Best Perfor ...
. Koestler donated all his royalties from the play to a fund he had set up to help struggling authors, the Fund for Intellectual Freedom (FIF). In June a bill was introduced in the
U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
to grant Koestler permanent residence in the U.S. Koestler sent tickets for the play to his
House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
sponsor
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
and his
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
sponsor
Owen Brewster
Ralph Owen Brewster (February 22, 1888 – December 25, 1961) was an American politician from Maine. Brewster, a Republican, served as the 54th Governor of Maine from 1925 to 1929, in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1935 to 1941 and in t ...
, a close confidant of
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...
. The bill became law on 23 August 1951 as Private Law 221 Chapter 343 "AN ACT For the relief of Arthur Koestler".
In 1951 the last of Koestler's political works, ''The Age of Longing'', was published. In it he examined the political landscape of post-war Europe and the problems facing the continent.
In August 1952 his marriage to Mamaine collapsed. They separated, but remained close until her sudden and unexpected death in June 1954. The book ''
Living with Koestler: Mamaine Koestler's Letters 1945–51'', edited by Mamaine's twin sister Celia Goodman, gives insight into their lives together.
Koestler decided to make his permanent home in Britain. In May 1953 he bought a three-storey
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
town house on
Montpelier Square
Montpelier Square is a residential garden square in Knightsbridge, London, administratively in the City of Westminster. The homes were built in the 19th century and are of brick construction partly covered by stucco. All of the buildings facing i ...
in London, and sold his houses in France and the United States.
The first two volumes of his autobiography, ''Arrow in the Blue'', which covers his life up to December 1931 when he joined the German Communist Party, and ''
The Invisible Writing
''The Invisible Writing: The Second Volume Of An Autobiography, 1932-40'' (1954) is a book by Arthur Koestler.
It follows on from '' Arrow in the Blue'', published two years earlier, and which described his life from his birth in 1905, to 1931, ...
'', which covers the years 1932 to 1940, were published in 1952 and 1954, respectively. A collection of essays, ''The Trail of the Dinosaur and Other Essays'', on the perils he saw facing western civilisation, was published in 1955.
On 13 April 1955 Janine Graetz, with whom Koestler had an on-off relationship over a period of years, gave birth to his daughter Cristina. Despite repeated attempts by Janine to persuade Koestler to show some interest in her, Koestler had almost no contact with Cristina throughout his life. Early in 1956 he arranged for Cynthia Jeffries to have an abortion when she became pregnant; it was then illegal. Koestler's main political activity during 1955 was his campaign for the abolition of
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
(which in the UK was by hanging). In July he started work on ''Reflections on Hanging''.
Later life, 1956–1975
Although Koestler resumed work on a biography of Kepler in 1955, it was not published until 1959. In the interim it was entitled ''
The Sleepwalkers''. The emphasis of the book had changed and broadened to "A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe", which also became the book's subtitle.
Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulated ...
and
Galileo
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
were added to
Kepler
Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws o ...
as the major subjects of the book.
Later in 1956, as a consequence of the
Hungarian Uprising, Koestler became busy organising anti-Soviet meetings and protests. In June 1957 Koestler gave a lecture at a symposium in
Alpbach
Alpbach (, ) is a town in western Austria in the state of Tyrol.
History
The earliest written record of the name Alpbach comes from 1150, although human settlement is known to have begun there before and around the year 1000, and a bronze axe f ...
, Austria, and fell in love with the village. He bought land there, had a house built, and for the next twelve years used it as a place for summer vacations and for organising symposia.
In May 1958 he had a
hernia
A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the gr ...
operation. In December he left for India and Japan, and was away until early 1959. Based on his travels, he wrote the book ''
The Lotus and the Robot
''The Lotus and the Robot'' is a 1960 book by Arthur Koestler, in which the author explores eastern mysticism. Although later dated by Westerners' greater exposure to Oriental practices, it concentrates mainly on Indian and Japanese traditions, w ...
''.
In early 1960, on his way back from a conference in San Francisco, Koestler interrupted his journey at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
,
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
, where some experimental research was going on with
hallucinogens
Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized ...
. He tried
psilocybin
Psilocybin ( , ) is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound produced by more than 200 species of fungi. The most potent are members of the genus ''Psilocybe'', such as '' P. azurescens'', '' P. semilanceata'', and '' P.&nbs ...
and had a "bad trip". Later, when he arrived at
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
to see
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from bold oracle to publicity hound. He was "a her ...
, he experimented with more drugs, but was not enthusiastic about that experience either.
In November 1960 he was elected to a Fellowship of
The Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...
.
In 1962, along with his agent, A D Peters and the editor of ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
,''
David Astor
Francis David Langhorne Astor, CH (5 March 1912 – 7 December 2001) was an English newspaper publisher, editor of ''The Observer'' at the height of its circulation and influence, and member of the Astor family, "the landlords of New York".
Ea ...
, Koestler set up a scheme to encourage prison inmates to engage in arts activities and to reward their efforts.
Koestler Arts
Koestler Arts (formerly The Koestler Trust) is a Charitable organization, charity which helps ex-offenders, secure patients and detainees in the UK to express themselves creatively. It promotes the arts in prisons, secure hospitals, immigration ...
supports over 7,000 entrants from UK prisons each year and awards prizes in fifty different artforms. In September each year, Koestler Arts run an exhibition at London's
Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge).
It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...
.
Koestler's book ''
The Act of Creation
''The Act of Creation'' is a 1964 book by Arthur Koestler. It is a study of the processes of discovery, invention, imagination and creativity in humour, science, and the arts. It lays out Koestler's attempt to develop an elaborate general theory ...
'' was published in May 1964. In November he undertook a lecture tour of various universities in California. In 1965 he married Cynthia in New York; they moved to California, where he participated in a series of seminars at the
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research lab at Stanford University that offers a residential postdoctoral fellowship program for scientists and scholars studying "the five core social a ...
at
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
University.
Koestler spent most of 1966 and the early months of 1967 working on ''
The Ghost in the Machine
''The Ghost in the Machine'' is a 1967 book about Theoretical psychology, philosophical psychology by Arthur Koestler. The title is a phrase (see ghost in the machine) coined by the Oxford philosopher Gilbert Ryle to describe the Cartesian dua ...
''. In his article "Return Trip to Nirvana", published in 1967 in the ''
Sunday Telegraph
''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings.
It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...
'', Koestler wrote about the
drug culture
Drug cultures are examples of countercultures that are primarily defined by spiritual, medical, and recreational drug use. They may be focused on a single drug, or endorse polydrug use. They sometimes eagerly or reluctantly initiate newcomers, ...
and his own experiences with hallucinogens. The article also challenged the defence of drugs in
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxley ...
's ''
The Doors of Perception
''The Doors of Perception'' is an autobiographical book written by Aldous Huxley. Published in 1954, it elaborates on his psychedelic experience under the influence of mescaline in May 1953. Huxley recalls the insights he experienced, rangin ...
''.
In April 1968 Koestler was awarded the
Sonning Prize
The Sonning Prize ( da, Sonningprisen) is a Danish culture prize awarded biennially for outstanding contributions to European culture. It is named after the Danish editor and author Carl Johan Sonning (1879–1937), who established the prize by h ...
"for
isoutstanding contribution to European culture". ''The Ghost in the Machine'' was published in August of same year and in the autumn he received an honorary doctorate from
Queen's University, Kingston
Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Suss ...
, Canada. In the later part of November the Koestlers flew to Australia for a number of television appearances and press interviews.
The first half of the 1970s saw the publication of four more books by Koestler:
''The Case of the Midwife Toad'' (1971), ''
The Roots of Coincidence
''The Roots of Coincidence'' is a 1972 book by Arthur Koestler. It is an introduction to theories of parapsychology, including extrasensory perception and psychokinesis. Koestler postulates links between modern physics, their interaction with time ...
'' and ''
The Call-Girls'' (both 1972), and ''
The Heel of Achilles: Essays 1968–1973'' (1974). In the
New Year Honours List
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...
for 1972 he was made a Commander of the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(CBE).
Final years, 1976–1983
Early in 1976 Koestler was diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
. The trembling of his hand made writing progressively more difficult. He cut back on overseas trips and spent the summer months at a farmhouse in
Denston
Denston is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk (district), West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located around eight miles south-west of Bury St Edmunds, in 2005 its population was 120.[Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...]
, which he had bought in 1971. That same year saw the publication of ''
The Thirteenth Tribe
''The Thirteenth Tribe'' is a 1976 book by Arthur Koestler, in which the author advances the thesis that Ashkenazi Jews are not descended from the historical Israelites of antiquity, but from Khazars, a Turkic people. Koestler hypothesized that ...
'', which presents his
Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry
The Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry, often called the Khazar myth by its critics, is a largely abandoned historical hypothesis. The hypothesis postulated that Ashkenazi Jews were primarily, or to a large extent, descended from Khazars, a ...
.
In 1978 Koestler published ''
Janus: A Summing Up''. In 1980 he was diagnosed with
chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). Early on, there are typically no symptoms. Later, non-painful lymph node swelling, feeling tired, fever, nigh ...
. His book ''
Bricks to Babel
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
'' was published that year. His final book, ''Kaleidoscope'', containing essays from ''
Drinkers of Infinity'' and ''
The Heel of Achilles: Essays 1968–1973'', with some later pieces and stories, was published in 1981.
During the final years of his life, Koestler,
Brian Inglis
Brian Inglis (31 July 1916 – 11 February 1993) was an Irish people, Irish journalist, historian and television presenter. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, and retained an interest in Irish history and politics.
He was best known to people in Bri ...
and
Tony Bloomfield established the KIB Society (named from the initials of their surnames) to sponsor research "outside the scientific orthodoxies". After his death it was renamed
The Koestler Foundation
The Koestler Foundation (originally the KIB) was a British organisation founded in 1980 to promote research in fields that fall outside of established science, specifically parapsychology and alternative medicine. The trustees were Arthur Koestle ...
.
In his capacity as Vice-President of the
Voluntary Euthanasia Society
Dignity in Dying (originally The Voluntary Euthanasia Legalisation Society) is a United Kingdom nationwide campaigning organisation. It is funded by voluntary contributions from members of the public, and as of December 2010, it claimed to hav ...
, later renamed Exit, Koestler wrote a pamphlet on suicide, outlining the case both for and against, with a section dealing specifically with how best to do it.
Koestler and Cynthia killed themselves on the evening of 1 March 1983 at their London home, 8 Montpelier Square, with overdoses of the
barbiturate
Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological addiction potential as we ...
Tuinal
Tuinal was the brand name of a discontinued combination drug composed of two barbiturate salts (secobarbital sodium and amobarbital sodium) in equal proportions.
Tuinal was introduced as a sedative-hypnotic (sleeping pill) medication in the late ...
taken with alcohol. Their bodies were discovered on the morning of 3 March, by which time they had been dead for 36 hours.
[Cesarani p. 547.]
Koestler had stated more than once that he was afraid, not of being dead, but of the process of dying. His suicide was not unexpected among his close friends. Shortly before his suicide his doctor had discovered a swelling in the groin which indicated a
metastasis
Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then, ...
of the cancer.
Koestler's suicide note:
The note was dated June 1982. Below it appeared the following:
Since the above was written in June 1982, my wife decided that after thirty-four years of working together she could not face life after my death.
Further down the page appeared Cynthia's own farewell note:
I fear both death and the act of dying that lies ahead of us. I should have liked to finish my account of working for Arthur – a story which began when our paths happened to cross in 1949. However, I cannot live without Arthur, despite certain inner resources.
Double suicide has never appealed to me, but now Arthur's incurable diseases have reached a stage where there is nothing else to do.
The funeral was held at the
Mortlake Crematorium
Mortlake Crematorium is a crematorium in Kew, near its boundary with Mortlake, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It opened in 1939, next to Mortlake Cemetery.
The crematorium serves the boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, ...
in South London on 11 March 1983.
Controversy arose over why Koestler allowed, consented to, or (according to some critics) compelled his wife's simultaneous suicide. She was only 55 years old and was believed to be in good health. In a typewritten addition to her husband's suicide note, Cynthia wrote that she could not live without her husband. Reportedly, few of the Koestlers' friends were surprised by this admission, apparently perceiving that Cynthia lived her life through her husband and that she had no "life of her own". Her absolute devotion to Koestler can be seen clearly in her partially completed memoirs. Yet according to a profile of Koestler by Peter Kurth:
All their friends were troubled by what Julian Barnes
Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with ''The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with '' Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and '' Art ...
calls "the unmentionable, half-spoken question" of Koestler's responsibility for Cynthia's actions.
"Did he bully her into it?" asks Barnes. And "if he didn't bully her into it, why didn't he bully her out of it?" Because, with hindsight, the evidence that Cynthia's life had been ebbing with her husband's was all too apparent.
With the exception of some minor bequests, Koestler left the residue of his estate, about £1 million (worth about £3.59 million in 2021), to the promotion of research into the paranormal through the founding of a chair in
parapsychology
Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near ...
at a university in Britain. The trustees of the estate had great difficulty finding a university willing to establish such a chair. Oxford, Cambridge,
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
and
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
were approached, and all refused. Eventually the trustees reached agreement with the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
to set up
a chair in accordance with Koestler's request.
Personal life and allegations
Koestler's relations with women have been a source of controversy.
David Cesarani
David Cesarani (13 November 1956 – 25 October 2015) was a British historian who specialised in Jewish history, especially the Holocaust. He also wrote several biographies, including ''Arthur Koestler: The Homeless Mind'' (1998).
Early life ...
alleged in his biography of Koestler, published in 1998, that Koestler had been a serial rapist, citing the case of the British feminist writer
Jill Craigie
Jill Craigie (born Noreen Jean Craigie; 7 March 1911 – 13 December 1999) was a British documentary filmmaker, screenwriter and feminist. She was one of Britain's earliest female documentary makers. Her early films demonstrate Craigie's interest ...
who said that she had been his victim in 1951. Feminist protesters forced the removal of his bust from
Edinburgh University
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...
. In his biography, ''Koestler: The Indispensable Intellectual'' (2009),
Michael Scammell
Michael Scammell (born 1935) is an English author, biographer and translator of Slavic literature.
Education
Michael Scammell was born in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England, attended Brockenhurst Grammar School, and after two years working as a copy ...
countered that Craigie was the only woman to go on record that she had been raped by Koestler, and had done so at a dinner party more than fifty years after the event. Claims that Koestler had been violent were added by Craigie later, although Scammell concedes that Koestler could be rough and sexually aggressive. Some critics believed that Cesarani's claims of Koestler having been a 'serial rapist' were unfounded; in his review of Cesarani's biography in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', the historian
Mark Mazower
Mark Mazower (; born 20 February 1958) is a British historian. His expertise are Greece, the Balkans and, more generally, 20th-century Europe. He is Ira D. Wallach Professor of History at Columbia University in New York City
Early life
Mazowe ...
observed: "Even those who applaud Cesarani for bringing the rape issue forward may wonder whether his approach is not too one-sided to make for a convincing portrait. Koestler was a domineering man. But he attracted women and many remained close friends after they had slept with him. It is implausible to write them all off as masochists, as Cesarani effectively does. Some broke with him; but then so did many other friends and acquaintances." Similarly, John Banville, in the ''
London Review of Books
The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews.
History
The ''London Review of ...
'', wrote:
:Koestler himself, and at least one Hungarian friend, saw nothing odd in (Koestler's) bed-hopping. "In Central Europe", George Mikes wrote in defence of Koestler, "every woman was regarded as fair game. She could always say 'no' and ... her no would be taken for an answer, even if grudgingly." Cesarani will have none of this political incorrectness, and stoutly declares: "There is evidence that as well as his consistent violence against women Koestler was a serial rapist." The evidence that Cesarani adduces in support of this accusation is an account of a particular encounter between Koestler and Jill Craigie, the wife of Michael Foot.
Cesarani and others claim that Koestler had
misogynistic
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
tendencies. He engaged in numerous sexual affairs and generally treated the women in his life badly.
In his autobiography, ''The Invisible Writing'', Koestler admits to having denounced Nadezhda Smirnova, with whom he was having a relationship, to the Soviet secret police.
Influence and legacy
Koestler wrote several major novels, two volumes of autobiographical works, two volumes of reportage, a major work on the history of science, several volumes of essays, and a considerable body of other writing and articles on subjects as varied as genetics, euthanasia, Eastern mysticism, neurology, chess, evolution, psychology, the paranormal and more.
''Darkness at Noon'' was one of the most influential anti-Soviet books ever written. Its influence in Europe on Communists and sympathisers and, indirectly, on the outcomes of elections in Europe, was substantial.
Geoffrey Wheatcroft
Geoffrey Albert Wheatcroft (born 23 December 1945) is a British journalist, author, and historian.
Early life and education
Wheatcroft is the son of Stephen Frederick Wheatcroft (1921–2016), OBE, and his first wife, Joyce (née Reed). He w ...
believes that Koestler's most important books were the five completed before he was 40: his first memoirs and the trilogy of anti-totalitarian novels that included ''Darkness at Noon''.
Politics and causes
Koestler embraced a multitude of political as well as non-political issues.
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
,
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
,
anti-communism
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
, voluntary
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
, abolition of capital punishment, particularly
hanging
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...
, and the abolition of quarantine for dogs being reimported into the United Kingdom are examples.
Science
In his book ''The Case of the Midwife Toad'' (1971) Koestler defended the biologist
Paul Kammerer
Paul Kammerer (17 August 1880, in Vienna – 23 September 1926, in Puchberg am Schneeberg) was an Austrian biologist who studied and advocated Lamarckism, the theory that organisms may pass to their offspring characteristics acquired in their lif ...
, who claimed to have found experimental support for
Lamarckian inheritance. According to Koestler, Kammerer's experiments on the midwife toad may have been tampered with by a
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
sympathiser at the University of Vienna. Koestler came to the conclusion that a kind of modified "Mini-Lamarckism" may explain some rare evolutionary phenomena.
Koestler criticised
neo-Darwinism
Neo-Darwinism is generally used to describe any integration of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection with Gregor Mendel's theory of genetics. It mostly refers to evolutionary theory from either 1895 (for the combinations of Dar ...
in a number of his books, but he was not opposed to the theory of evolution in general terms. Biology professor Harry Gershenowitz described Koestler as a "populariser" of science despite his views not being accepted by the "orthodox academic community". According to an article in the ''
Skeptical Inquirer
''Skeptical Inquirer'' is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: ''The Magazine for Science and Reason''.
Mission statement and goals
Daniel Loxton, writing in ...
'', Koestler was an "advocate of Lamarckian evolution – and a critic of Darwinian
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...
as well as a believer in psychic phenomena".
In addition to his specific critiques of neo-Darwinism, Koestler was opposed to what he saw as dangerous scientific reductionism more generally, including the
behaviourism
Behaviorism is a systematic approach to understanding the behavior of humans and animals. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex evoked by the pairing of certain antecedent stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that individual ...
school of psychology, promoted in particular by
B. F. Skinner
Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was a professor of psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.
...
during the 1930s.
Koestler assembled a group of high-profile
antireductionist scientists, including
C. H. Waddington
Conrad Hal Waddington (8 November 1905 – 26 September 1975) was a British developmental biologist, paleontologist, geneticist, embryologist and philosopher who laid the foundations for systems biology, epigenetics, and evolutionary developme ...
,
W. H. Thorpe and
Ludwig von Bertalanffy
Karl Ludwig von Bertalanffy (19 September 1901 – 12 June 1972) was an Austrian biologist known as one of the founders of general systems theory (GST). This is an interdisciplinary practice that describes systems with interacting components, appl ...
, for a meeting at his retreat in
Alpbach
Alpbach (, ) is a town in western Austria in the state of Tyrol.
History
The earliest written record of the name Alpbach comes from 1150, although human settlement is known to have begun there before and around the year 1000, and a bronze axe f ...
in 1968. This was one of many attempts which Koestler made to gain acceptance within the mainstream of science, a strategy which brought him into conflict with individuals such as
Peter Medawar
Sir Peter Brian Medawar (; 28 February 1915 – 2 October 1987) was a Brazilian-British biologist and writer, whose works on graft rejection and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance have been fundamental to the medical practice of tissue ...
who saw themselves as defending the integrity of science from outsiders.
Although he never gained significant credibility as a scientist, Koestler published a number of works at the border between science and philosophy, such as ''Insight and Outlook'', ''The Act of Creation'' and ''
The Ghost in the Machine
''The Ghost in the Machine'' is a 1967 book about Theoretical psychology, philosophical psychology by Arthur Koestler. The title is a phrase (see ghost in the machine) coined by the Oxford philosopher Gilbert Ryle to describe the Cartesian dua ...
''.
Paranormal
Mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...
and a fascination with the
paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...
imbued much of Koestler's later work and he discussed paranormal phenomena, such as extrasensory perception,
psychokinesis
Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
and telepathy. In his book ''
The Roots of Coincidence
''The Roots of Coincidence'' is a 1972 book by Arthur Koestler. It is an introduction to theories of parapsychology, including extrasensory perception and psychokinesis. Koestler postulates links between modern physics, their interaction with time ...
'' (1972) he claims that such phenomena can never be explained by theoretical physics. According to Koestler, distinct types of coincidence could be classified, such as "the library angel", in which information (typically in libraries) becomes accessible through serendipity, chance or
coincidence
A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances that have no apparent causal connection with one another. The perception of remarkable coincidences may lead to supernatural, occult, or paranormal claims, or it may lead t ...
, rather than through the use of a catalogue search.
[David Cesarani. ]
Arthur Koestler: The Homeless Mind
'. Free Press; 1998. .
Synchronicity: Through the Eyes of Science, Myth, and the Trickster
'. Da Capo Press; 28 February 2001. . p. 21–.[Allan H. Pasco. ]
Sick Heroes: French Society and Literature in the Romantic Age, 1750–1850
'. University of Exeter Press; 1997. . p. 181–. The book mentions yet another line of unconventional research by
Paul Kammerer
Paul Kammerer (17 August 1880, in Vienna – 23 September 1926, in Puchberg am Schneeberg) was an Austrian biologist who studied and advocated Lamarckism, the theory that organisms may pass to their offspring characteristics acquired in their lif ...
, the theory of coincidence or seriality. He also presents critically the related concepts of
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...
. More controversial were Koestler's studies and experiments on
levitation
Levitation (from Latin ''levitas'' "lightness") is the process by which an object is held aloft in a stable position, without mechanical support via any physical contact.
Levitation is accomplished by providing an upward force that counteracts ...
and
telepathy
Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...
.
[Kendrick Frazier. ]
Science Confronts the Paranormal
'. Prometheus Books, Publishers; . p. 49–.
Judaism
Koestler was Jewish by birth, but he did not practise the religion. In an interview published in the British newspaper ''
The Jewish Chronicle
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
'' in 1950 he argued that Jews should either emigrate to Israel or
assimilate completely into the majority cultures they lived in.
In ''
The Thirteenth Tribe
''The Thirteenth Tribe'' is a 1976 book by Arthur Koestler, in which the author advances the thesis that Ashkenazi Jews are not descended from the historical Israelites of antiquity, but from Khazars, a Turkic people. Koestler hypothesized that ...
'' (1976) Koestler advanced a theory that
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
are descended, not from the Israelites of antiquity, but from the
Khazars
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
, a
Turkic people
The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose memb ...
in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
that converted to Judaism in the 8th century and was later forced westwards. Koestler argued that a proof that Ashkenazi Jews have no biological connection to biblical Jews would remove the racial basis of European
anti-Semitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
.
In reference to the
Balfour Declaration
The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...
Koestler stated, "one nation solemnly promised to a second nation the country of a third."
Collaboration with the Information Research Department
Much of Arthur Koestler's work was funded and distributed secretly by a covert propaganda wing of the UK Foreign Office, known as the
Information Research Department
The Information Research Department (IRD) was a secret Cold War propaganda department of the British Foreign Office, created to publish anti-communist propaganda, including black propaganda, provide support and information to anti-communist pol ...
(IRD). Koestler enjoyed strong personal relationships with IRD agents from 1949 onwards, and was supportive of the department's anti-communist goals. Koestler's relationship with the British government was so strong that he had become a de facto advisor to British propagandists, urging them to create a popular series of anti-communist left-wing literature to rival the success of the
Left Book Club
The Left Book Club was a publishing group that exerted a strong left-wing influence in Great Britain from 1936 to 1948.
Pioneered by Victor Gollancz, it offered a monthly book choice, for sale to members only, as well as a newsletter that acqui ...
.
Languages
Koestler first learned
Hungarian, but later his family spoke mostly German at home. From his early years he became fluent in both languages. It is likely that he picked up some
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
too, through contact with his grandfather. By his teens he was fluent in Hungarian, German, French and English.
During his years in
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
Koestler became sufficiently fluent in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
to write stories in that language, as well as to create what is believed to have been the world's first Hebrew
crossword
A crossword is a word puzzle that usually takes the form of a square or a rectangular grid of white- and black-shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answ ...
puzzle. During his years in the Soviet Union (1932–33), although he arrived with a vocabulary of only 1,000 words of
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
, and no
grammar
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...
, he picked up enough colloquial Russian to speak the language.
Koestler wrote his books in German up to 1940, but then wrote only in English. (''L'Espagne ensanglantée'' was translated into French from German.)
Koestler is said to have coined the word
mimophant to describe
Bobby Fischer
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11 ...
.
Quotes
"Liking a writer and then meeting the writer is like liking goose liver and then meeting the goose".
In August 1945 Koestler was in Palestine where he read in the ''Palestine Post'' about the dropping of the
atomic bomb on Hiroshima
The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...
. "That's the end of the world war", he said to a friend — "and it is also the beginning of the end of the world."
Published works
Fiction (novels)
* 1934 (2013). ''Die Erlebnisse des Genossen Piepvogel in der Emigration''
* 1939. ''
The Gladiators'' (about the revolt of
Spartacus
Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising ...
)
* 1940. ''
Darkness at Noon
''Darkness at Noon'' (german: link=no, Sonnenfinsternis) is a novel by Hungarian-born novelist Arthur Koestler, first published in 1940. His best known work, it is the tale of Rubashov, an Old Bolshevik who is arrested, imprisoned, and tried f ...
''
* 1943. ''
Arrival and Departure
''Arrival and Departure'' (1943) is the third novel of Arthur Koestler's trilogy concerning the conflict between morality and expedience (as described in the postscript to the novel's 1966 Danube Edition). The first volume, '' The Gladiators'' ...
''
* 1946. ''
Thieves in the Night''
* 1951. ''The Age of Longing'', .
* 1972. ''
The Call-Girls: A Tragicomedy with a Prologue and Epilogue''. A novel about scholars making a living on the international seminar-conference circuit.
Drama
* 1945. ''
Twilight Bar''.
Autobiographical writings
* 1937. ''
Spanish Testament
''Spanish Testament'' is a 1937 book by Arthur Koestler, describing his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. Part II of the book was subsequently published on its own, with minor modifications, under the title ''Dialogue with Death'' (see ...
''.
* 1941. ''
Scum of the Earth''.
* 1942. ''
Dialogue with Death
''Dialogue with Death'', a book by Arthur Koestler, was originally published in 1937 as a section (Part II) of his book ''Spanish Testament'', in which he describes his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. Part II of the book was subsequent ...
''.
* 1952. ''
Arrow in the Blue: The First Volume of an Autobiography, 1905–31'', 2005 reprint,
* 1954. ''
The Invisible Writing: The Second Volume of an Autobiography, 1932–40'', 1984 reprint,
* 1984. ''
Stranger on the Square'' co-written with Cynthia Koestler, published posthumously, edited and with an Introduction and Epilogue by Harold Harris, London: Hutchinson, 1984, .
NB The books ''The Lotus and the Robot'', ''The God that Failed'', and ', as well as his numerous essays, all may contain further autobiographical information.
Other non-fiction
* 1934. '. About Koestler's travels in the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. In his ''The Invisible Writing'', Koestler calls the book ''Red Days and White Nights'', or, more usually, ''Red Days''. Of the five foreign language editions − Russian, German,
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
,
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
,
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
− planned, only the German version was eventually published in
Kharkov
Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine. ,
Ukrainian S.S.R. The edition is very rare.
* 1937. ''L'Espagne ensanglantée''.
* 1942 (summer) ''Le yogi et le commissaire''.
* 1945. ''
The Yogi and the Commissar
''The Yogi and the Commissar'' (1945) is a collection of essays of Arthur Koestler, divided in three parts: Meanderings, Exhortations and Explorations. In the first two parts he has collected essays written from 1942 to 1945 and the third part was ...
and Other Essays''.
* 1948. "What the Modern World is Doing to the Soul of Man". Essay in
* 1949. ''Promise and Fulfilment: Palestine 1917–1949''.
* 1949.
* 1952. ''The Trail of the Dinosaur''
Google Books* 1955. ''The Trail of the Dinosaur and Other Essays''.
* 1955. ''
The Anatomy of Snobbery'' in The Anchor review No.1
* 1956. ''
Reflections on Hanging''.
* 1959. ''
The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe''. An account of changing scientific paradigms.
* 1960. ''The Watershed: A Biography of Johannes Kepler''. (excerpted from ''The Sleepwalkers''.)
* 1960. ''
The Lotus and the Robot
''The Lotus and the Robot'' is a 1960 book by Arthur Koestler, in which the author explores eastern mysticism. Although later dated by Westerners' greater exposure to Oriental practices, it concentrates mainly on Indian and Japanese traditions, w ...
'', . Koestler's journey to India and Japan, and his assessment of East and West.
* 1961. ''Control of the Mind''.
* 1961. ''Hanged by the Neck''. Reuses some material from ''Reflections on Hanging''.
* 1963. ''
Suicide of a Nation''.
* 1964. ''
The Act of Creation
''The Act of Creation'' is a 1964 book by Arthur Koestler. It is a study of the processes of discovery, invention, imagination and creativity in humour, science, and the arts. It lays out Koestler's attempt to develop an elaborate general theory ...
''.
* 1967. ''
The Ghost in the Machine
''The Ghost in the Machine'' is a 1967 book about Theoretical psychology, philosophical psychology by Arthur Koestler. The title is a phrase (see ghost in the machine) coined by the Oxford philosopher Gilbert Ryle to describe the Cartesian dua ...
''. Penguin reprint 1990: .
* 1968. ''
Drinkers of Infinity: Essays 1955–1967''.
* 1971. ''
The Case of the Midwife Toad
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', . An account of
Paul Kammerer
Paul Kammerer (17 August 1880, in Vienna – 23 September 1926, in Puchberg am Schneeberg) was an Austrian biologist who studied and advocated Lamarckism, the theory that organisms may pass to their offspring characteristics acquired in their lif ...
's research on
Lamarckian evolution
Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...
and what he called "serial coincidences".
* 1972. ''
The Roots of Coincidence
''The Roots of Coincidence'' is a 1972 book by Arthur Koestler. It is an introduction to theories of parapsychology, including extrasensory perception and psychokinesis. Koestler postulates links between modern physics, their interaction with time ...
'', . Sequel to ''The Case of the Midwife Toad''.
* 1973. ''The Lion and the Ostrich''.
* 1974. ''
The Heel of Achilles: Essays 1968–1973'', .
* 1976. ''
The Thirteenth Tribe
''The Thirteenth Tribe'' is a 1976 book by Arthur Koestler, in which the author advances the thesis that Ashkenazi Jews are not descended from the historical Israelites of antiquity, but from Khazars, a Turkic people. Koestler hypothesized that ...
: The Khazar Empire and Its Heritage'', .
* 1976. ''Astride the Two Cultures: Arthur Koestler at 70'', .
* 1977. ''Twentieth Century Views: A Collection of Critical Essays'', .
* 1978. ''
Janus: A Summing Up'', . Sequel to ''The Ghost in the Machine''
* 1980. ''
Bricks to Babel
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
''. Random House, . This 1980 anthology of passages from many of his books, described as "A selection from 50 years of his writings, chosen and with new commentary by the author", is a comprehensive introduction to Koestler's writing and thought.
* 1981. ''
Kaleidoscope
A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when v ...
''. Essays from ''Drinkers of Infinity'' and ''The Heel of Achilles'', plus later pieces and stories.
Writings as a contributor
* ''
The Encyclopœdia of Sexual Knowledge'' (1934) (In his autobiography ''
The Invisible Writing
''The Invisible Writing: The Second Volume Of An Autobiography, 1932-40'' (1954) is a book by Arthur Koestler.
It follows on from '' Arrow in the Blue'', published two years earlier, and which described his life from his birth in 1905, to 1931, ...
'', Koestler uses the
ligature
Ligature may refer to:
* Ligature (medicine), a piece of suture used to shut off a blood vessel or other anatomical structure
** Ligature (orthodontic), used in dentistry
* Ligature (music), an element of musical notation used especially in the me ...
''œ'' in the spelling of the word "Encyclopaedia".)
* ''
Foreign Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
'' (1940) uncredited contributor to
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
film produced by
Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger (born Walter Feuchtwanger; July 11, 1894 – November 18, 1968) was an American film producer active from the 1910s, his career concluding with the turbulent production of '' Cleopatra,'' his last film, in 1963. He began at Para ...
* ''
The God That Failed'' (1950) (collection of testimonies by ex-Communists)
* ''
Attila, the Poet'' (1954) (
Encounter
Encounter or Encounters may refer to:
Film
*''Encounter'', a 1997 Indian film by Nimmala Shankar
* ''Encounter'' (2013 film), a Bengali film
* ''Encounter'' (2018 film), an American sci-fi film
* ''Encounter'' (2021 film), a British sci-fi film
*E ...
; 1954.2 (5)). On loan at the UCL library of the
School of Slavonic & Eastern European Studies.
*
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
* ''Beyond Reductionism: The Alpbach Symposium. New Perspectives in the Life Sciences'' (co-editor with
J. R. Smythies, 1969),
* ''
The Challenge of Chance: A Mass Experiment in Telepathy and Its Unexpected Outcome'' (1973)
* ''
The Concept of Creativity in Science and Art
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (1976)
* ''Life After Death'', (co-editor, 1976)
* ''Humour and Wit. I'':
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
. 15th ed. vol. 9.(1983)
* ''humour'', ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
''
See also
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Information Research Department
The Information Research Department (IRD) was a secret Cold War propaganda department of the British Foreign Office, created to publish anti-communist propaganda, including black propaganda, provide support and information to anti-communist pol ...
References
Key to abbreviations used for frequently quoted sources
*ACK ''
Stranger on the Square'' (A & C Koestler)
*AIB ''
Arrow in the Blue'' (A Koestler)
*CG ''
Living with Koestler: Mamaine Koestler's Letters 1945–51'' (Celia Goodman, Ed.)
*GM ''
Arthur Koestler: The Story of a Friendship'' (George Mikes)
*IW ''
The Invisible Writing
''The Invisible Writing: The Second Volume Of An Autobiography, 1932-40'' (1954) is a book by Arthur Koestler.
It follows on from '' Arrow in the Blue'', published two years earlier, and which described his life from his birth in 1905, to 1931, ...
'' (A Koestler)
Further reading
Biographies of Koestler
* Atkins, J., 1956. ''Arthur Koestler''.
* Buckard, Christian G., 2004. ''Arthur Koestler: Ein extremes Leben 1905–1983''. .
*
Cesarani, David, 1998. ''Arthur Koestler: The Homeless Mind''. .
*
Hamilton, Iain, 1982. ''Koestler: A Biography''. .
* Koestler, Mamaine, 1985. ''
Living with Koestler: Mamaine Koestler's Letters 1945–51''. or .
* Levene, M., 1984.
''Arthur Koestler''.
* Mikes, George, 1983. ''
Arthur Koestler: The Story of a Friendship''. .
* Pearson, S. A., 1978. ''Arthur Koestler''. .
*
Scammell, Michael, 2009. ''Koestler: The Literary and Political Odyssey of a Twentieth-Century Skeptic'' . also published in UK as ''Koestler: The Indispensable Intellectual'', London: Faber, 2010.
External links
*
KoestlerCBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
14 December 2011: Interview with biographer
Michael Scammell
Michael Scammell (born 1935) is an English author, biographer and translator of Slavic literature.
Education
Michael Scammell was born in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England, attended Brockenhurst Grammar School, and after two years working as a copy ...
on the Ideas podcast.
Road WarriorArticle in December 2009 issue of the ''New Yorker''. Differs with the Wikipedia entry on many features of Koestler's biography.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koestler, Arthur
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