| Thomas Mann (1875 –1955) was a German novelist mainly famous for a series of highly
symbolic, sometimes ironic novels and stories showing his particular insight into the psychology of artists and
intellectuals. In 1905, he married Katia Pringsheim, daughter of a well-known Jewish family of
intellectuals. They had six children: Klaus, Erika, Golo, Monika, Elisabeth and Michael. Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929 for his first major
novel, Buddenbrooks, which was translated into numerous languages and established his literary
reputation. His best-known novel is probably The Magic Mountain, set in Davos,
Switzerland. In 1933, Mann chose to leave Germany because of the political
situation. He took refuge first in Switzerland and then moved to the US. He later settled in
Kilchberg, near Zurich, Switzerland where he died and is buried. Mann’s third son Golo, a
popular, though sometimes controversial historian, is also buried in
Kilchberg, not in but near to the family grave. |
