Freya Of the Seven Isles

Jósef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski was born in Russian-controlled Ukraine to landless aristocratic Polish parents in 1857. His father, a translator of French literature, was convicted of revolutionary activities for Polish independence in 1861 and the family was exiled to Russia, where both parents soon contracted Tuberculosis and died. Raised by relatives, Jósef joined the French Merchant Marines at age 16, and spent the next two decades sailing the world, including stints with the British Merchant marines and as a gun-runner for Carlist revolutionaries in Spain. He didn't learn English until in his twenties, but at 36 he settled in London, married, and, changing his name to Joseph Conrad, commenced writing tales based on his life at sea, becoming famous for novels such as Lord Jim and Nostromo, and novellas such as Heart of Darkness and Victory. He died of a heart attack in England in 1924.