Arthur Koestler

Arthur Koestler, was a Hungarian British author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria. In 1931, Koestler joined the Communist Party of Germany, but he resigned in 1938 because Stalinism disillusioned him. In 1940, he published his novel Darkness at Noon, an anti-totalitarian work that gained him international fame. Over the next 43 years, from his residence in Britain, Koestler espoused many political causes and wrote novels, memoirs, biographies, and numerous essays. In 1968 he was awarded the Sonning Prize "for [his] outstanding contribution to European culture", and in 1972 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In 1976, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and in 1979 with terminal leukaemia. In 1983 he and his wife committed suicide together at their home in London.