Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad real name Jozef Teodor Konrad was a Ukrainian born turned English author born in Berdichev of Ukraine. He was born to Evelina and Apollo Korzeniowski, two polish nobles who were involved in a conspiracy to undermine Russian rule that saw them sent to Vologda as a punishment. They took with them the four year old Conrad, but died several years later leaving Conrad to the care of his uncle in Poland. Conrad got what may be best described as sporadic education as he got literary instruction from his father, went to public school while they lived in Krakow, before he proceeded to private schooling. He left home aged 16 and headed to Marseilles in France where he joined the merchant marine. His uncle had a merchant friend who helped him get a job on French merchant ships as an apprentice before he got promotion to become steward. His travels with the marine took him to South America and the West Indiies where he may have been a participant in gun smuggling. After a miserable period where he fell into debt and even attempted suicide, he found work with the British merchant marine where he stayed for more than a decade eventually earning British citizenship. During those years he had traveled to as far places as Australia, Africa, Singapore ,and India which provided fantastic experiences that he would later capture in his novels.