Malcolm Pasley

Sir John Malcolm Sabine Pasley, 5th Baronet, FBA (5 April 1926 – 4 March 2004), commonly known as Malcolm Pasley, was a literary scholar best known for his dedication to and publication of the works of Franz Kafka.

Born in Rajkot, India, Pasley was a direct descendant of Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley, 1st Baronet, who distinguished himself in the revolutionary wars against the French and was made a baronet in 1794.

1944-1946 served in the Royal Navy.

Following is the outline of the academic career of Sir Malcolm Pasley:

Sir Malcolm Pasley was married in 1965 to Virginia Wait they had two sons:

Pasley wrote of many German authors, with his initial works on the German language, Nietzsche in particular, gaining him much fame. Pasley's work in this area was pioneering; his book Germany: A Companion to German Studies, first published in 1972, is still in heavy demand.

Pasley is best known for his work on the Kafka writings. He began studying Kafka in the early part of his career and was introduced to Marianne Steiner born Pollak, Kafka's niece and daughter of his sister Valli, by her son Michael, who was a student at Oxford. Through this friendship Pasley became the key adviser to Kafka's heirs. Pasley regarded Kafka as "a younger brother".

In 1956, Salman Schocken and Max Brod placed Kafka's works in a Swiss vault due to concerns surrounding unrest in the Middle East and the safety of the manuscripts, which were with Brod in Tel Aviv. After significant negotiation, Pasley took personal possession of Kafka's works that were in Brod's possession. In 1961, Pasley transported them by car from Switzerland to Oxford. Pasley reflected on the adventure as one that "made his own hair stand on end".

The papers, except The Trial, were deposited in Oxford's Bodleian Library. The Trial remained in the possession of Brod heiress Ilse Ester Hoffe, and in November 1988 the German Literary Archives at Marbach, Germany purchased the manuscript for £1.1 million in an auction conducted by Sotheby's.

...
Wikipedia