Translating the works of Franz Kafka into Czech provided Milena Jesenská with her initial professional platform, yet her legacy transcends the literary sphere. A journalist who navigated the volatile landscapes of interwar Europe, she became a prominent voice in Prague's media before her involvement in the underground resistance movement led to her tragic death in a concentration camp.
Literary Beginnings and Kafka Correspondence
Born in 1896 in Prague, Jesenská was the daughter of a dental surgeon and professor. After attending Minerva, the first academic gymnasium for girls, she briefly pursued medicine before pivoting toward writing. Her professional career began in earnest after she moved to Vienna in 1918. Her discovery of Kafka’s short story The Stoker prompted a request for translation permission, which sparked an intense, years-long correspondence between the two authors. Jesenská became the first translator of Kafka’s work into a foreign language, eventually rendered multiple short stories into Czech, and edited texts by authors including Hermann Broch and Franz Werfel.
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Upon returning to Prague in 1925, Jesenská established herself as a versatile journalist and editor. She contributed to influential publications such as Lidové noviny, Pestrý týden, and the political magazine Přítomnost, where she analyzed the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. During the 1930s, her political trajectory included a brief membership in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. However, she was later expelled for her refusal to conform, specifically criticizing Stalinism and Soviet foreign policy. Her later editorials in Přítomnost were noted for their clear-eyed warnings regarding the Anschluss and the geopolitical future of Czechoslovakia.
Resistance and Final Years
Following the German occupation, Jesenská joined the underground resistance, assisting Jewish and communist refugees in their attempts to escape the country. Her activities resulted in her arrest by the Gestapo in November 1939. After initial imprisonment in Prague and Dresden, she was deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1940. Within the camp, where she was identified as prisoner number 4714, she continued to provide moral support to fellow inmates. She died from kidney failure on 17 May 1944. Her contribution to humanitarian efforts was officially recognized in 1994 when Yad Vashem named her Righteous Among the Nations.
Fast facts
- Born: 1896, Prague
- Died: 17 May 1944, Ravensbrück concentration camp
- Occupations: Journalist, translator, editor
- Key Publication: Přítomnost
- Camp identification number: 4714
- Righteous Among the Nations: 1994
- Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk: 1996
Questions readers ask
What was the nature of the relationship between Milena Jesenská and Franz Kafka?
They were close correspondents who met only twice, though Kafka shared his private diaries with her before his death.
Why was Milena Jesenská expelled from the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia?
She was expelled in the mid-1930s for her critical stance toward Stalinism and for labeling the party's leadership as conformist.
Achievements
- Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, 2nd class — 1996
- Righteous Among the Nations — 1994
- Worked as writer, journalist and translator
