Koestler, << KEHST luhr, >> Arthur (1905-1983), was a Hungarian-born novelist and essayist. His life and works reflect the political upheavals of the 1900’s. Koestler was a Communist from 1931 to 1937. His most successful political novels, Darkness at Noon (1941) and Arrival and Departure (1943), express his rejection of dictators and Communism.
Koestler was born in Budapest, Hungary, on Sept. 5, 1905. Serving as a foreign correspondent in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), Koestler was jailed by the fascists. He described this experience in Spanish Testament (1937). Koestler served as a volunteer in the French and British armies in World War II (1939-1945). He then settled in London and became a British citizen. Koestler died on March 3, 1983.
