Author. He was a prolific Polish-English author at the dawn of the 20th century. Born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, as a subject of the Russian Empire, in Berdyczów, which is in the Ukraine in the 21st century, he anglicized his name to "Joseph Conrad" in 1886 when he became a British citizen, and gained his Master Mariner's Certificate. He retired from the sea in 1894, after various adventures including gun-running and dueling, which served him well as material for his writing as did his adventures in his native Poland. As a student, he did not excel in his studies, and at the age of a thirteen-year-old, he announced his intention to become a sailor. While in nautical training, he excelled in French, Latin, German and Greek; world history and geography; gained knowledge of world literature; and some physics. Later, he would follow his father's literary footsteps, becoming an author. In 1889 he visited the Congo Free State, which partially inspired the plot of his most acclaimed work, "Heart of Darkness" published in 1899. The novel covered the points of Henry Morton Stanley's third African expedition, Emin Pasha Relief Expedition in 1888. Although the English language was not his native tongue, Conrad became a brilliant prose stylist in that language, and his novels combine a romantic temperament with a rigorous morality. His first novel, "Almayer's Folly," took years to write, was published in 1895, and was successful. His most important writings include "The Nigger of the Narcissus" in 1897, "Lord Jim" in 1900, "Nostromo" in 1904, "The Secret Agent" in 1907, "Under Western Eyes" in 1911, "Chance" in 1913, and "Victory" in 1915. Several were adapted to Hollywood films, notably "Heart of Darkness" as "Apocalypse Now" in 1979. His image appeared in April of 1923 on the cover of the American magazine, "Time." Throughout his life, he suffered from bad health, including recurrent attacks of malaria, poor oral hygiene, chronic pain from gout and arthritis, and chronic depression to the point of attempting suicide at age twenty. After a couple of marriage proposals being rejected, he married on March 24, 1896 an Englishwoman, Jessie George. Though she came from an uneducated, working class, she was devoted to him and encouraged his writing and did write her own memoirs. The couple had two sons. His pen became his political statement, often publishing his essays and letters in magazines. His grave marker has a misspelled version of his original Polish name, as "Joseph Teador Conrad Korzeniowski."