Success After Death
Success After Death
S
uccess comes in various forms and may oc-
cur at different times in one’s life. Through-
out history, we’ve witnessed a fair share of suc-
cessful authors, painters, poets, and scientists,
who attained posthumous success and immor-
tality through their life’s work.
Success After Death
by Shweta Roy
While not everyone becomes a cultural — or
even historical icon through their work, here
are a few people whose contributions to the
world became historically recognized after their
death.
Vincent van Gogh
Known for his paintings, Vincent van Gogh’s
paintings have been in museums across the
globe. Some of his works can be seen at Art
Institute of Chicago. Van Gogh did not achieve
fame during his lifetime. He sold only one of his
paintings for a modest $109 (adjusted for pres-
ent day prices), and suffered from depression
and epilepsy. Unfortunately, he committed sui-
cide at the age of thirty-seven. Today, around
two thousand of his paintings are worth in the
millions each.
Franz Kafka
The prolific writer Kafka died in 1924, having
only published a handful of short stories. He
requested his friend, Max Brod to burn all his
unpublished works, but his friend defied his
death wish and published “The Trial” in 1925.
His works were steadily published in the follow-
ing years and became classics. Now he is known
as one of the most influential writers of the 20th
century.
Known as the ‘Father of Physics’ and the ‘Father
of Observational Astronomy’, Galileo famously
hypothesized that the earth revolved around
the sun. He also played an important role in the
scientific revolution of the seventeenth century,
experimenting with essential scientific ideas
like kinematics and strength of materials.
His hypothesis of heliocentrism, however, was
firmly against the doctrine of the Roman Catho-
lic Church, which believed the universe revolved
around the earth. His theories were rejected
and church authorities held him under house
arrest. In 1642, he died after a long fever.
What Can We Learn?
Even if people around you aren’t appreciating
your work, keep on going. After all, practice
makes perfect. To keep your self-esteem at high
levels, try to limit your self-doubt..
Many people have and leave their mark on, so
try to focus on doing great work.
Never give up and throw away your life’s work,
as you’ll never know when success awaits you.
Whenever your time comes, you’re will be
around to be appreciated
Less audience
shouldn’t make you
demoralized. You’ll be
appreciated when your
time comes.
John Keats
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SPRING 2017
Although he is now one of the most famous En-
glish romantic poets, Keats’ work started to re-
ceive widespread recognition and appreciation
after his death at the age of twenty-five. Fellow
poet, Percy Bysshe She lley, recognized Keats’
unique talents early on and remained one of his
biggest supporters. Reference:
Galileo Galilei http://www.vggallery.com/map/main.htm
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-people-who-became-fa-
mous-after-death.php
https://mic.com/articles/62651/9-incredible-writers-who-on-
ly-became-famous-after-death#.OLkPFF9yz
https://medium.com/@ashwanikumar110/galileo-has-been-
called-the-father-of-observational-astronomy-the-father-of-
modern-physics-e0a1c72ef1a9
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