John Stuart Mill’s dedication to his wife, Harriet Taylor, in On Liberty:
To the beloved and deplored memory of her who was the inspirer, and in part the author, of all that is best in my writings—the friend and wife whose exalted sense of truth and right was my strongest incitement, and whose approbation was my chief reward—I dedicate this volume. Like all that I have written for many years, it belongs as much to her as to me; but the work as it stands has had, in a very insufficient degree, the inestimable advantage of her revision; some of the most important portions having been reserved for a more careful re-examination, which they are now never destined to receive. Were I but capable of interpreting to the world one half the great thoughts and noble feelings which are buried in her grave, I should be the medium of a greater benefit to it, than is ever likely to arise from anything that I can write, unprompted and unassisted by her all but unrivalled wisdom.
I’ve never heard of him, but I’ll check him out. I really love Kafka, so that connection is enough for me!
This reminds me of Walter Benjamin (1892-1940)too—another early admirer of Kafka. Benjamin, a Jewish Marxist, was in a city that was about to be taken over by the Nazis. They were so close that he and many other inhabitants killed themselves. I think it was the next day that the Allies attacked the oncoming Nazis and saved the city from their takeover.