Charles Bukowski

Birth Name: Heinrich Karl Bukowski

Date of Birth: August 16, 1920

Place of Birth: Andernach, Prussia, Weimar Germany (now Germany)

Date of Death: March 9, 1994

Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Ethnicity: German, some Polish

Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. He published over sixty books, including six novels, hundreds of short stories, and thousands of poems. His writing was carried in smaller literary magazines and presses, including his “Poems Written Before Jumping Out of an 8 Story Window” and “Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame;” he also wrote the column “Notes of a Dirty Old Man” in the underground newspaper Open City. His material often addressed writing, the lives of the working poor, alcoholism, romantic relationships, and work drudgery, and was influenced by Los Angeles culture, society, and economic life. During his lifetime, his work was mostly acclaimed by European critics, particularly in England and Germany.

Charles was born in Andernach, Prussia, Germany, the son of a German mother, Katharina (Fett), from Andernach, and an American father, Henry Charles Bukowski, from Pasadena, Los Angeles. His father was a sergeant in the U.S. Army, and served in Germany as part of the U.S. occupation of the country after WWI. His father later became a building contractor, and the family moved to Pfaffendorf, now Koblenz, after Charles’s birth, and then to Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. in 1923, and Mid-City, Los Angeles, California, in 1930.

Charles was married to health food restaurant owner, actress, and Philadelphia heiress Linda Lee Beighle, until his death. He had a daughter with his former partner, poet FrancEyE/Frances Dean Smith.

Charles’s paternal grandfather was named Leonard B. Bukowski. Leonard was born in Imperial Germany, and had moved to the U.S. in the 1880s.

Charles’s paternal grandmother was named Emilie Olga Krause (the daughter of parents surnamed Krause and Pierschki). Emilie was from Danzig, now Gdańsk, Poland.

Charles’s maternal grandfather was named Wilhelm Fett.

Charles’s maternal grandmother was named Nannette Israel.

Sources: Genealogy of Charles Bukowski – https://www.geni.com

Genealogy of Charles Bukowski (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.findagrave.com

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