Mann, Thomas

The German novelist and short story writer Thomas Mann was born in Lübeck. His father, who was a senator and wealthy merchant, died in 1891, leaving an inheritance which secured the future of the family. The family moved to Munich, where Thomas Mann would live for thirty years until 1933. After a short period at an insurance company, he studied in 1895-96 both at the university and at a technical university in Munich, but traveled much in Europe the following years. Next he worked for some time as a publisher’s reader and collaborator at the periodical Simplicissimus. In the year 1900 he did his military service, but was exempted. In 1905 he married Katia Pringsheim. They had six children, who later became famous to various extents, and the Mann family has fascinated posterity even into our own times.