Thomas Mann facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann in 1929
Born	(1875-06-06)6 June 1875 Free City of Lübeck, German Empire
Died	12 August 1955(1955-08-12) (aged 80) Zürich, Switzerland
Resting place	Kilchberg, Switzerland
Occupation	Novelist short story writer essayist
Education	University of Munich Technical University of Munich
Period	1896–1954
Genre	Novel, novella
Notable works	Buddenbrooks, The Magic Mountain, Death in Venice, Joseph and His Brothers, Doctor Faustus
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in Literature (1929) Goethe Prize (1949)
Spouse	Katia Pringsheim
Children	Erika, Klaus, Golo, Monika, Elisabeth, Michael
Relatives	Thomas Johann Heinrich Mann (father) Júlia da Silva Bruhns (mother) Heinrich Mann (brother)
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Paul Thomas Mann (born June 6, 1875 – died August 12, 1955) was a famous German writer. He wrote novels, short stories, and essays. In 1929, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Mann's stories often explored the minds of artists and thinkers. He used old German and Biblical tales in new ways. He also used ideas from famous thinkers like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Nietzsche.

He came from a well-known family in Lübeck, Germany. His first novel, Buddenbrooks, was about his own family. His older brother, Heinrich Mann, was also a writer. Three of Thomas Mann's six children became important German writers too.

When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, Mann left Germany for Switzerland. Later, during World War II, he moved to the United States. He returned to Switzerland in 1952. Mann is known as one of the most important writers who wrote in exile. These were German writers who opposed Hitler's rule.

A Look at Thomas Mann's Life

The house where Thomas Mann grew up in Lübeck. It is now a museum about his family.

Thomas Mann was born into a wealthy family in Lübeck. He was the second son of Thomas Johann Heinrich Mann. His father was a senator and a grain merchant. His mother, Júlia da Silva Bruhns, was from Brazil. She had German and Portuguese family roots.

His father died in 1891. After this, his family moved to Munich. Mann first studied science in school in Lübeck. Then he went to universities in Munich. He studied history, economics, art, and literature. He was preparing for a career in journalism.

Mann lived in Munich from 1891 until 1933. He spent one year in Italy with his older brother, Heinrich. Thomas also worked for an insurance company for a short time.

His writing career began when he wrote for a magazine called Simplicissimus. His first short story, "Little Mr Friedemann," was published in 1898.

In 1905, Mann married Katia Pringsheim. She came from a wealthy Jewish family. They had six children together.

Life During the World Wars

Mann's summer house in Nidden (now Nida, Lithuania). It is now a museum.

In 1912, Thomas and Katia moved to a special hospital (sanatorium) in Davos, Switzerland. This place later inspired his 1924 novel, The Magic Mountain. He was worried about the growing tensions between Germany and France. He was also upset when World War I began.

In 1929, Mann had a small house built in a fishing village called Nidden. This village is now in Lithuania. He spent his summers there from 1930 to 1932. He worked on his novel Joseph and His Brothers there. Today, his cottage is a museum.

In 1933, Mann was traveling in France. His children told him it was not safe to return to Germany. The family then moved to Switzerland. In 1936, they became citizens of Czechoslovakia.

In 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia. Mann then moved to the United States. He lived in Princeton, New Jersey, and taught at Princeton University. In 1942, his family moved to Los Angeles, California. They were important members of the German community there. Many other German writers and artists also lived in Los Angeles. On June 23, 1944, Thomas Mann became a citizen of the United States. The Mann family lived in Los Angeles until 1952.

Speaking Out Against the Nazis

When World War II started in 1939, Mann began giving anti-Nazi speeches. He spoke in German to the German people through the BBC. From October 1940, he made monthly broadcasts. He recorded them in the U.S., and they were sent to London. The BBC then broadcast them to Germany.

In these speeches, Mann criticized Hitler and his followers. He called them crude and out of touch with European culture. He once said, "The war is horrible, but it has the advantage of keeping Hitler from making speeches about culture."

Mann was one of the few German writers in the U.S. who openly opposed Nazism. After the war, he spoke about why people who suffered under the Nazis might want Germany to be held responsible. He also hoped that enemies might rethink revenge.

His Final Years

The grave of Thomas Mann and his family in Kilchberg, Switzerland.

Thomas Mann's funeral in 1955.

As the Cold War began, Mann became frustrated with rising McCarthyism. This was a time in the U.S. when people were accused of being communists. Mann was called a "suspected communist." He had to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Mann was not a communist, but he was not against them either. He spoke out against the accusations. He said, "Spiritual intolerance, political inquisitions, and declining legal security... That is how it started in Germany." He protested against people being jailed or fired for their beliefs.

Because of this, he found it hard to get his views published. He was forced to leave his job at the Library of Congress. In 1952, he moved back to Switzerland. He lived in Kilchberg, near Zürich. He never lived in Germany again, but he visited often. In 1949, he visited Germany for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 200th birthday. This showed that German culture was still important, even with new political borders.

His Death

After his 80th birthday, Mann went on vacation in the Netherlands. On July 18, 1955, he felt pain in his left leg. Doctors diagnosed a blood clot. He was taken to a hospital in Zürich. He died on August 12, 1955.

Later, doctors found that his condition had been misdiagnosed. He had a burst artery, which caused internal bleeding. At that time, surgery to fix this was not possible. Thomas Mann was buried in Kilchberg, Switzerland.

His Lasting Impact

Thomas Mann's writings influenced many other authors. Many places are named after him, like the Thomas Mann Gymnasium in Budapest.

Thomas Mann's Writing Career

Mann early in his writing career.

Buddenbrooks (1909) by Thomas Mann.

Blanche Knopf, a publisher from America, met Mann in Europe. She became his American publisher. She hired Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter to translate his books into English.

After his novel Buddenbrooks became popular, his publishers sent him an extra payment. Later, in the 1930s, Blanche Knopf helped Mann and his family move to America.

Winning the Nobel Prize

Mann received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929. He was recognized mainly for his popular novel Buddenbrooks (1901) and The Magic Mountain (1924). His many short stories were also noted.

Buddenbrooks tells the story of a merchant family in Lübeck. It shows how the family declines over four generations. This novel was based on Mann's own family.

The Magic Mountain follows an engineering student. He plans to visit his sick cousin at a Swiss sanatorium for a few weeks. But he ends up staying much longer. During his stay, he learns about medicine and meets many different people. These characters represent different ideas and problems in Europe at the time.

His long novel series Joseph and His Brothers was written over 16 years. It is one of his biggest and most important works.

Later novels included Lotte in Weimar: The Beloved Returns (1939). This book returned to the world of Goethe's famous novel. Doctor Faustus (1947) tells the story of a made-up composer. It explores how German culture was affected before and during World War II. Confessions of Felix Krull (1954) was unfinished when Mann died.

Thomas Mann's Political Views

During World War I, Mann supported the German government. He was against liberalism and supported the war. He called the war "a purification, a liberation, an enormous hope." In his book Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man (1918), Mann shared his conservative ideas. He valued German traditions and patriotism.

Later, his political views changed. He began to support democracy. In 1923, he urged German thinkers to support the new Weimar Republic. He gave a speech in Berlin in 1930 called "An Appeal to Reason." In it, he strongly spoke out against Nazism. He encouraged people to resist the Nazis. He also showed more sympathy for socialist ideas.

When the Nazis took power in 1933, Mann was on vacation. His son advised him not to return to Germany. Unlike his brother's and son's books, Mann's books were not burned by the Nazis. This might be because he had won the Nobel Prize. In 1936, the Nazi government officially took away his German citizenship.

During the war, Mann made many anti-Nazi radio speeches. These were published as Listen, Germany! in 1943. He recorded them in the United States. The BBC then broadcast them to Germany. He hoped German listeners would hear his message.

Thomas Mann's Literary Works

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