Kathi Diamant

Kafka Project

Kathi Diamant founded the Kafka Project at SDSU in 1998, the third official search for the missing writings of Franz Kafka, confiscated from Dora Diamant by the Gestapo in Berlin 1933. She has directed the project since then and continues to oversee the ongoing effort in Germany to uncover the last writings of Franz Kafka.

In 1971, in a German literature class at the University of Georgia, Kathi learned about the last love of literary giant Franz Kafka, Dora Diamant, and began to wonder if they were related. She soon discovered a literary mystery surrounding Kafka’s last writings and resolved to solve it. In 1985, she organized a research trip to Prague, Vienna, and Jerusalem to discover what had become of Dora after Kafka’s death in 1924. In 1998, Kathi established the Kafka Project at San Diego State University in 1998. Kathi’s Kafka Project efforts in recovering Kafka’s manuscripts in WWII-era archives in Germany and Poland continue in Berlin, and her work earned her a 2012 residency as an East European Scholar at the Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C.  She has lectured on Kafka at international literary festivals and academic conferences, taught literature courses on Kafka at SDSU and UCSD, and is recognized as one of the leading Kafka experts in the United States.

Learn more by visiting: kafka.sdsu.edu.

Kafka Project with Dr. Hans-Gerd Koch

Kafka Conference, Istanbul, Turkey 2015 Group

KP research Kathi and Trudi Diamant Bundesarchiv Berlin 2014

KP Judita Matyasova and Kathi Zurau (Serim) Czech Republic

Dora’s Family, Shoshi, Idan, and Dvir Diamant with “Kafka’s Last Trial” author Benjamin Balint Jerusalem 2018

Stefan Litt, Brod Collection Archivist, National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, 2018

Kathi DIamant at Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague, on Magical Mystery Literary History Tour in support of Kafka Project Research, 2014

Keynote address on Valentines Day, San Miguel de Allende Literary Festival, Mexico, 2014

Coffee with Kafka

Join us for conversations and coffee as we discuss Kafka and life!

"Coffee with Kafka" started in 2013 as an offshoot of the Kafka Project, and a way to celebrate our common interest in Kafka. We explore Kafka’s life and work, as well as European philosophy, literature, art and culture.

We meet several times per year in a beautiful private garden near downtown San Diego. As per the European tradition, food and refreshments, wine and coffee are offered to spark our discussions.

To view past events or to register for future ones, visit coffeewithkafka.com.