Gustav Meyrink
Gustav Meyrink led a remarkably turbulent life.
Born illegitimately to a baron and an actress, he spent two decades in Prague, a city that profoundly shaped his writing.
He founded a bank, was imprisoned briefly on fraud charges, and survived a suicide attempt at twenty-four — a fate his own son tragically did not escape at the same age.
Meyrink practiced yoga throughout his life and channeled his deep interest in occultism, mysticism, and Kabbalah into richly atmospheric fiction.
He also translated fifteen volumes of Dickens into German while simultaneously developing his own celebrated literary career.
