Buzz
When a writer who has made an indelible mark on literature and language passes away, it's usually due to commonplace causes like illness or old age. Their death is widely acknowledged, and their legions of admirers mourn their loss. Yet, on rare occasions, a celebrated poet or author dies or vanishes in such peculiar and puzzling circumstances that no one can definitively explain what occurred.
10. Weldon Kees
Though not as widely known as contemporaries such as John Berryman or Robert Lowell, poet Weldon Kees is regarded as one of the finest of his time, with a devoted following and admiration from literary figures like the distinguished critic Harold Bloom and poet laureate Joseph Brodsky. Donald Justice, another poet and one of Kees' admirers, said, 'Kees is original in one of the few ways that matter: he speaks to us in a voice or, rather, in a particular tone of voice which we have never heard before.' Apart from poetry, Kees explored numerous other creative fields, including painting, jazz piano, filmmaking, literary criticism, and short story writing.
In the early 1950s, Kees' wife Amy started struggling with paranoia and alcoholism. Kees managed to get her admitted to a psychiatric facility, but she left after just three weeks. The couple separated and divorced soon after. Kees moved into a small apartment on his own and returned to bachelor life, but it didn’t seem to improve his spirits. On July 19, 1955, his car was found abandoned with the keys still in the ignition on the northern side of the Golden Gate Bridge. A search of his apartment revealed no substantial clues, except for the missing wallet, watch, and sleeping bag. The day prior, his friend Janet Richards mentioned that Kees had been considering a trip to Mexico. Although there have been sightings of him in New Orleans and Mexico, Kees has not been officially seen since.
9. Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda, the Chilean poet born Ricardo Eliecer Netyali Reyes Basoalto, gained instant fame with his 1924 poetry collection *Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair*, which was published when he was just 19. By 1927, Neruda became a diplomat, traveling the world for his work. His time in Spain during the Spanish Civil War profoundly affected him, especially after the tragic death of his friend, Federico Garcia Lorca. In 1945, after years of openly supporting Joseph Stalin and communism, Neruda joined the Communist Party of Chile. He continued to write extensively throughout the following decades, becoming more involved in left-wing political movements, including his opposition to the Vietnam War and his active support of the socialist government of Salvador Allende during Allende’s presidency from 1970 to 1973.
In 1973, Augusto Pinochet's right-wing coup toppled Allende's government, while Neruda was battling prostate cancer. He died in a hospital twelve days after the coup, with his death initially attributed to cancer. However, there were suspicions of poisoning, particularly after he reportedly called a friend, mentioning he felt ill following an injection by a tall, blonde, blue-eyed doctor named Dr. Price.
Dr. Price's identity remains unknown, though Michael Townley, a CIA double agent working for Pinochet's regime, is a key suspect. Harmutt Hopp, a German doctor with Nazi connections, and Manfred Jurgensen, a Pinochet collaborator, have also been implicated. Neruda's remains were exhumed in 2013, but no poison was found. A 2015 Chilean government investigation has vowed to re-examine his remains for any unnatural causes.
8. Arthur Cravan
Arthur Cravan was an eccentric and rebellious Swiss poet, celebrated by Dadaists and Surrealists. He cultivated a provocative public persona, often seen intoxicated, pulling down his pants in public, engaging in a boxing match with a world champion, and enraging artists and poets with his critical magazine, Maintenant! Poet Guillaume Apollinaire once challenged Cravan to a duel after he criticized a self-portrait by Apollinaire's lover, Marie Laurencin.
Cravan's life is shrouded in mystery, as he used numerous aliases, forged passports, and once declared himself a "citizen of 20 countries." What is certain is that he was born Fabian Avenarius Lloyd in Lausanne, Switzerland, on May 22, 1887, the son of Otto Holland Lloyd, who was the brother-in-law of Oscar Wilde. From 1903 to 1917, he traveled extensively, residing in cities like Berlin, Paris, and Barcelona, before fleeing to New York to evade World War I conscription. Arriving without money, he spent his early days drinking and sleeping in a park, until he gained attention for delivering a drunken speech at the Premier Exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists, which ended with Cravan undressing and cursing at the audience, prompting the police to be called.
Soon after, Cravan moved to Mexico City, where he opened a boxing school and married the English poet Mina Loy in 1918. The couple had planned to travel to Buenos Aires but could afford only one boat ticket. Loy took the ticket, and Cravan chose to make the journey alone in a small fishing boat.
Loy waited for her husband in Argentina, but he never arrived. A storm had hit during the days he was expected to sail, making it likely that he capsized and drowned. However, with no body ever found, some believe Cravan faked his death, having grown tired of married life. He was reportedly seen in New York, Paris, and Amsterdam during the 1920s, living under the names Dorian Hope and Sebastian Hope, publishing plagiarized poems and forged Oscar Wilde manuscripts.
7. Sandor Petofi
Regarded as Hungary's greatest poet, Sandor Petofi was a nationalist and revolutionary who played a key role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. This failed uprising aimed to liberate Hungary from the control of its Austrian rulers. Petofi's poetry often centered on themes such as nature, love, family, everyday life, and, most notably, patriotism.
Petofi began composing poetry at a young age, winning a poetry contest when he was just 15. Despite his early literary success, his youth was marked by financial struggles within his family and poor academic performance. At 16, he left his eighth school and worked various jobs, including stints as a soldier and an actor. In 1844, he met Mihaly Vorosmarty, Hungary's leading poet at the time, who helped him publish his first poetry collection, launching him into instant fame.
In the following years, Petofi became more politically active, running unsuccessfully for a seat in the Diet, condemning the oppressive Austrian monarchy, and advocating for Hungarian independence. His poem 'National Day' and the 12-Points declaration (a list of demands from young Hungarian revolutionaries) rallied the people to action. Petofi joined the Hungarian army at the start of the 1848 revolution. On July 31, 1849, during the Battle of Segesvar, he disappeared. Though it is believed that he perished in the battle, his body was never found. Some say he may have been buried in a mass grave, while others suggest he was captured by Russian forces allied with Austria and died as a prisoner in Siberia.
6. Sergei Yesenin
Sergei Yesenin was a rebellious and often intoxicated Russian poet, notorious for his wild behavior as much as for his poetry. Born to peasant parents, he left his village at the age of 17 and moved to Moscow. Drawing inspiration from Russian folklore and peasant life, his first collection of poems, Ritual for the Dead, was published in 1916. Initially supportive of the Bolshevik Revolution, he quickly grew disillusioned. In 1921, he published Confessions of a Hooligan, a work that marked a shift to a more cynical and decadent style. The following year, he married Isadora Duncan, an American dancer. He accompanied her on a European tour, where their constant arguments and Yesenin’s drunken outbursts made headlines, leading to him vandalizing several expensive hotel rooms they stayed in.
After the couple separated, Yesenin sank deeper into depression, especially upon returning to his village and seeing his old friends and neighbors fully engrossed in revolutionary ideals. Feeling alienated and guilty for betraying the common people, Yesenin attempted to reconcile by writing poems praising the new government, but it failed to lift his spirits. In December 1925, following a nervous breakdown and a two-day binge, he checked into a hotel in Leningrad. There, he slashed his wrists and used his blood to write his final poem before hanging himself.
Yesenin’s tragic death sparked several copycat suicides. He was incredibly popular during his lifetime, and even after the Soviet government banned his works posthumously, his poetry remained beloved. Due to his individualism and reckless behavior, which the communist authorities despised, there are theories suggesting that the secret police may have orchestrated his assassination. A novel titled Yesenin, along with a TV adaptation, helped further fuel this conspiracy theory.
5. Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Mayakovsky, like his contemporary Sergey Esenin, saw himself as a poet of the people. He crafted his intense and passionate poems in a straightforward, conversational style, aimed at reaching a broad audience. Initially, he supported the Bolsheviks, even working for the Soviet government between 1919 and 1921, creating cartoons and posters. When Esenin took his own life, Mayakovsky was deeply shocked, viewing it as a betrayal of communism. In response to Esenin’s final words, he wrote:
It’s not difficult to die. To make life is more difficult by far.
Despite facing harsh criticism, Mayakovsky tragically took his own life five years later, under circumstances that remain mysterious.
On April 14, 1930, after a heated argument, Mayakovsky’s girlfriend, Veronika Polonskaya, stepped out of his apartment. She heard a gunshot and quickly rushed back inside, finding him lying on the floor with blood soaking his shirt. He had shot himself in the heart. Although an ambulance was called, he succumbed to his injuries before it arrived, passing away at the age of 37.
By the time of his death, Mayakovsky was suffering from intense depression and felt profoundly alienated, having spent his life supporting a cause he no longer identified with. His last plays, both satirical in nature, critiqued the government but were rejected by critics who remained loyal to the regime. A few days before his suicide, during a lecture at the University of Moscow, he was met with boos and physical attacks. To worsen his anguish, his girlfriend, a married woman, refused to leave her husband, which, according to the official story, was the final trigger for his despair.
A lingering rumor suggests that Mayakovsky may have been murdered by the secret police. Given his outspoken criticism and the oppressive political climate of the time, this theory is not entirely implausible. His friends, Lilya Brik and Osip Mandelstam, were allegedly spying on him for the authorities. In a particularly suspicious twist, the officer investigating Mayakovsky’s death was killed 10 days later. Whatever the true cause, Mayakovsky's fame only grew after his death, with Josef Stalin declaring him the 'best and most talented poet of our Soviet epoch.'
4. Shams Tabrizi
Shams Tabrizi, the enigmatic mystic poet, remains a crucial figure in the life of Rumi, though his presence is often overshadowed in the wider world. On November 15, 1244, while wandering through the streets of Konya, Shams noticed Rumi in the heart of a marketplace. He approached Rumi and asked him a curious question: 'Which is greater, the Prophet Muhammad or the great teacher Betsami?' Rumi, a scholar of religion, replied that Muhammad held greater stature. But Shams, with his penetrating wisdom, challenged Rumi further: 'Betsami claimed, 'I am great because God is within me,' while Muhammad proclaimed, 'God is great in His infinite mercy.' What is your explanation of this difference?' Rumi, deeply moved and overwhelmed by this question, fell to his knees. It was in this profound encounter that Rumi, already a respected religious figure, began to truly comprehend the boundless nature of God. The bond formed between Shams and Rumi during the next three years would change Rumi's life and work forever.
The intense devotion Rumi felt toward Shams, however, sparked jealousy among his followers. They feared the powerful influence Shams had over their teacher. In December 1247, Shams mysteriously disappeared, and the events surrounding his vanishing remain shrouded in mystery. Some versions suggest that he was killed by Rumi's own son or his students, others claim that Shams met a violent end at the hands of his enemies—either cast into a well or ambushed by seven unknown men, who ruthlessly ended his life.
Devastated by the loss of his beloved teacher, Rumi, upon hearing rumors that Shams had fled to Damascus, journeyed there in search of him, but found no trace. In his overwhelming sorrow, Rumi poured his heart into the creation of 'The Works of Shams Tabrizi,' a monumental collection of 40,000 verses. This work stands as one of the greatest masterpieces in Persian literature, immortalizing the memory of Shams Tabrizi and the profound impact he had on Rumi's life and thought.
3. Solomon Northup
Solomon Northup, born in 1808 in Minerva, New York, was an African-American farmer and musician who authored the 1853 memoir 12 Years a Slave. This memoir became the basis for the acclaimed movie directed by Steve McQueen. Growing up on his father's farm, Northup spent his time reading and playing the violin. He married Anne Hampton in 1829, with whom he had three children. The family enjoyed relative financial stability, as Anne worked at a prominent hotel while Northup was a well-known musician in their community.
In 1841, two white men, posing as circus agents, lured Northup south to Washington, DC, under the pretense of hiring him for performances. After drugging him, they sold him into slavery. Northup endured 12 years of harsh labor on a plantation in Louisiana before a lawyer helped prove his free status. After his release, Northup published his widely-read memoir and became an active advocate in the abolitionist movement.
By around 1863, Northup disappears from the historical record. Despite extensive searches, no death certificate has surfaced, and efforts to locate his resting place in New York cemeteries have yielded no results. Historians remain puzzled about his fate. A relative of Northup mentioned in a letter that, 'We believe that he was kidnapped or killed, or both.' The notion that he was kidnapped again has mostly been ruled out, as his age would have made him less valuable. The theory that his former captors murdered him is also unlikely. It’s possible that Northup simply withdrew from public life, perhaps moving to live with one of his daughters or fading into poverty and obscurity. Other experts, like author David Fiske, speculate that he may have adopted a new identity and relocated to California.
2. Maxim Gorky
A prolific playwright, author, and political activist throughout his career, Maxim (or Maksim) Gorky is often regarded as 'the greatest 'proletarian' in Russian literature.' His 1902 play The Lower Depths is among his most celebrated works, and Gorky earned worldwide recognition for his poignant depictions of the downtrodden, the impoverished, and the marginalized members of society.
Gorky, born Alexei Maximovich Peshkov on March 28, 1868, adopted the name 'Gorky,' which translates to 'bitter.' His father passed away when he was just five years old, and after his mother remarried, he was sent to live with his maternal grandparents. While his grandmother showed him great affection, his grandfather was harsh and abusive, instilling deep fear in the young Peshkov. When his grandfather’s dye shop failed, Peshkov had to leave school at the age of eight and start working. At the age of 12, he ran away from home, wandering across Russia and taking on various odd jobs. After attempting suicide in 1889, he began writing under his pseudonym and quickly gained national attention for his impactful and realistic short stories.
A passionate revolutionary and Marxist, Gorky frequently clashed with the czarist government. Following a brief stint in prison for his involvement in the 1905 Russian Revolution, Gorky spent seven years in exile, only returning in 1913. However, after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, he became disillusioned with Vladimir Lenin’s regime and was again exiled from 1918 to 1928. Gorky returned to the Soviet Union in 1932, where he was greeted with immense praise.
Although he had criticized Stalin while living abroad, Gorky remained politically subdued for several years after his return. In 1933, he was forbidden from traveling abroad and became the head of the Union of Soviet Writers the following year. In 1936, at 68 years old, he died unexpectedly during medical treatment. Rumors circulated that Stalin had ordered his death, and during the trial of revolutionary Nikolay Bukharin in 1936, it was alleged that Gorky had been poisoned by a 'Bloc of Rightists and Trotskyites.' One of the accused, police chief Genrikh Yagoda, later admitted that Stalin had given the order to eliminate the renowned writer.
1. Federico Garcia Lorca
Federico Garcia Lorca, born on June 5, 1898, in Fuente Vaqueros near Granada, was a Spanish poet and playwright celebrated for his surreal, folk-inspired style. In 1919, he moved to Madrid, where he made influential friends, including Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali. Choosing to focus on his art over academics, Lorca dropped out of university, staged his first play in 1920, and published his first poetry collection the following year. His major breakthrough came in 1928 with Gypsy Ballads, a collection of poems that became an instant hit, going through seven editions in the next decade. Lorca then spent a year in New York before returning to Spain after the country reinstated itself as a republic. There, he worked with La Barraca, a government-sponsored traveling theater group, writing and performing the renowned Trilogy of Blood: Blood Wedding (1933), Yerma (1934), and The House of Bernarda Alba (1936).
In August 1936, shortly after the Spanish Civil War began, Garcia Lorca was detained by Francisco Franco’s Nationalist forces. The exact events that followed remain unclear, but Lorca was eventually executed, with his death possibly occurring on August 19. General Franco, during his reign, denied any involvement in the poet’s death, stating, 'The writer died while mixing with the rebels, these are natural accidents of war.'
However, in April 2015, documents from the Franco era were declassified, revealing the government's role in Lorca’s death. While it was previously believed that Lorca had been executed by a firing squad alongside three others, the newly released papers suggest he was killed immediately after his arrest and buried in a shallow grave following a confession. The details of his confession remain unknown, but his 'crimes' may have been his homosexuality and political leftist views. The location of his remains still eludes discovery, and all attempts to locate them have proven unsuccessful.
