Life Thomas Mann

1 life

1.1 pre-war , second world war period
1.2 anti-nazi broadcasts
1.3 last years

life

paul thomas mann born bourgeois family in lübeck, second son of thomas johann heinrich mann (a senator , grain merchant) , wife júlia da silva bruhns (a brazilian of german , portuguese ancestry emigrated germany when 7 years old). mother catholic mann baptised father s lutheran religion. mann s father died in 1891 , trading firm liquidated. family subsequently moved munich. mann attended science division of lübeck gymnasium (school), spent time @ ludwig maximillians university of munich , technical university of munich where, in preparation journalism career, studied history, economics, art history , literature.

mann lived in munich 1891 until 1933, exception of year in palestrina, italy, novelist elder brother heinrich. thomas worked south german fire insurance company in 1894-95. career writer began when wrote simplicissimus. mann s first short story, little mr friedemann (der kleine herr friedemann), published in 1898.

in 1905, mann married katia pringsheim, daughter of wealthy, secular jewish industrialist family. later joined lutheran church. couple had 6 children.

pre-war , second world war period

mann s summerhouse in nida (german: nidden), today museum

in 1912, , wife moved sanatorium in davos, in switzerland, inspire 1913 book magic mountain. appalled risk of international confrontation between germany , france, following crisis in morocco, , later outbreak of first world war.

in 1929, mann had cottage built in fishing village of nidden, memel territory (now nida, lithuania) on curonian spit, there german art colony , spent summers of 1930–1932 working on joseph , brothers. today cottage cultural center dedicated him, small memorial exhibition.

thomas mann , albert einstein @ princeton university.

in 1933, while travelling in south of france, mann heard klaus , erika in munich, not safe him return germany. family (except 2 oldest children) emigrated küsnacht, near zurich, switzerland received czechoslovak citizenship , passport in 1936. after nazi germany took on czechoslovakia, emigrated united states in 1939, taught @ princeton university. in 1942, mann family moved 1550 san remo drive in pacific palisades neighborhood of los angeles, california. manns prominent members of german expatriate community in los angeles, , meet other emigres @ house of salka , bertold viertel in santa monica, , @ villa aurora, home of fellow german exile lion feuchtwanger. on 23 june 1944 thomas mann naturalized citizen of united states. manns lived in los angeles until 1952.

anti-nazi broadcasts

the outbreak of world war ii on 1 september 1939, prompted mann offer anti-nazi speeches (in german) german people via bbc. in october 1940 began monthly broadcasts, recorded in u.s. , flown london, bbc broadcast them germany on longwave band. in these eight-minute addresses, mann condemned hitler , paladins crude philistines out of touch european culture. in 1 noted speech said, war horrible, has advantage of keeping hitler making speeches culture.

mann 1 of few publicly active opponents of nazism among german expatriates in u.s. while germans claimed after war in speeches had endorsed notion of collective guilt, others felt had been highly critical of politically unstable weimar republic preceded third reich.

last years

the grave of thomas, katia, erika, monika, michael , elisabeth mann, in kilchberg, switzerland

with start of cold war increasingly frustrated rising mccarthyism. suspected communist , required testify house un-american activities committee, termed 1 of world s foremost apologists stalin , company. listed huac being affiliated various peace organizations or communist fronts. being in own words non-communist rather anti-communist, mann openly opposed allegations: american citizen of german birth testify painfully familiar political trends. spiritual intolerance, political inquisitions, , declining legal security, , in name of alleged ‘state of emergency.’ . . . how started in germany.” mann joined protests against jailing of hollywood ten , firing of schoolteachers suspected of being communists, found ‘the media had been closed him.’ ” forced quit position consultant in germanic literature @ library of congress , in 1952 returned europe, live in kilchberg, near zurich, switzerland. never again lived in germany, though regularly traveled there. important german visit in 1949, @ 200th birthday of johann wolfgang von goethe, attending celebrations in frankfurt main , weimar, statement german culture extended beyond new political borders. in 1955, died of atherosclerosis in hospital in zurich , buried in kilchberg. many institutions named in honour, instance thomas mann gymnasium of budapest.