Short answers, pulled from the story.
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-British novelist and story writer, born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski on the 3rd of December 1857 and died on the 3rd of August 1924. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language, though he did not speak English fluently until his twenties and always spoke with a strong foreign accent.
Joseph Conrad's works include his first novel Almayer's Folly, published in 1895, along with Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, The Secret Agent, Under Western Eyes, Victory and Chance. His Congo work inspired the novella Heart of Darkness, and his last complete novel was The Rover.
Joseph Conrad joined the British merchant marine in April 1878 and most likely began learning English shortly before, serving fifteen years under the Red Ensign. The biographer Najder noted that writing in a foreign language admits a greater temerity in tackling personally sensitive problems, leaving the deeper reaches of the psyche uncommitted.
Joseph Conrad began writing Almayer's Folly in the autumn of 1889 and, in 1894 at age 36, reluctantly gave up the sea due to poor health and his fascination with writing. Almost all his work first appeared in newspapers and magazines, and popular success arrived only with the 1913 publication of Chance.
In 1890 Joseph Conrad worked on the Congo River for the Societe Anonyme Belge pour le Commerce du Haut-Congo, having been hired by Albert Thys, and the experience inspired Heart of Darkness. There he befriended Roger Casement, who was later knighted in 1911 for his human-rights advocacy.
Joseph Conrad died on the 3rd of August 1924 at his house, Oswalds, in Bishopsbourne, Kent, England, probably of a heart attack. He was interred at Canterbury Cemetery under a misspelled version of his original Polish name, and his grave was designated a Grade II listed structure in 1996.