Franz Kafka (IPA: [ˈfʀanʦ ˈkafka]) (3 July 1883 - 3 June 1924) was one of the major German-language fiction writers of the 20th century. He was born to a midle-class Jewish family in Prague, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic). His unique body of writing—much of which is incomplete and was published posthumously—is among the most influential in Western literature.