Mann was born in Lübeck. He studied at a private preparatory school until 1889 and worked for a bookseller in Dresden in 1889-91 and a published in Berlin in 1891-92. He contracted tuberculosis and stayed in a sanatorium in Switzerland. After his father died - leaving Thomas Mann financially independent - he settled in Berlin and France. His first novel, IN EINER FAMILIE, appeared in 1893. In 1894 he moved to Munich where he was the editor of Das zwanzigste Jahrhundert.

From the mid-1890s until World War I Mann lived mostly in Italy and France. His novels published during these years dealt mostly of social life in imperial Germany, among them IM SCHLARAFFENLAND (1900), a satirical depiction of the pastimes of middle-class Germans, and DIE GÖTTINGEN (1902), about aestheticism and individualism in Europe at the turn of the century.

In 1914 Mann married Marie (Mimi) Kanová, they divorced in 1930.

Mann's best know novel is PROFESSOR UNRAT (1904), a story of a professor who is destroyed by his passion to a night-club singer. The novel has been filmed many times, but best known version is Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), which was directed by Joseph Von Sternberg. In title role acted Marlene Dietrich.

In 1912 Mann began to publish his trilogy DAS KAISERREICH. Its firs part was banned during World War I, but appered in 1918 and gained huge suiccess. The trilogy focused on prewar Prussian society, and told the story of the rise of an amoral opportunist. In the 1920s and early 1930s appeared MUTTER MARIE (1927), a novel about the mercenary schemes of a general's wife, and EIN ERNSTES LEBEN (1932), a provocative exploration of contemporary German values.

The Prussian Government called Mann to Berlin to the Academy of Arts and in 1931 he was elected to the presidency of Poetry Section. He remained in the office until the beginning of the persecution of literature under Nazi regime started.

After leaving Germany Mann first lived in Prague and then near Nice on the Riviera. He wrote there his most ambitious novels based on the life of Henry IV, the French king who was known for his religious tolerance.

In 1940 Mann moved to the United States. His second wife, Nelly Kroeger, who suffered from mental illness, committed suicide in 1944. In his last years Mann worked on his autobiography, EIN ZEITALTER WIRD BESICHTIGT (1945). Mann died in California in Santa Monica on March 12, 1950.

As an essayist Mann moved from conservative middle-class opinions to a strong commitment to democracy and various forms of socialism. In 'Zola' (1915) Mann indirectly attacked the exploitative attitudes of capitalists and industrialists which have led to the First World War. The work caused a temporary rupture between the brothers Mann, because Thomas had defended the war and felt personally criticized. In DER HASS (1933) Mann set out, with quickly drawn portraits, to show how the cultivation of hatred as perpetrated by the Nazis must inevitably lead to the demise of civilization.

For further reading: Heinrich Mann by R.N. Linn (1967); Heinrich Mann and His Public by L. Winter (1970); Artistic Consciousness and Political Conscience by D. Roberts (1971); The Brothers Mann by N. Hamilton (1972); Heinrich Mann: Leben, Werk, Wirken by Volker Ebersbach (1978); Heinrich Mann: Werk und Wirkung, ed. by Rudolf Wolff (1984)

Selected works:

• IN EINER FAMILIE, 1893
• IM SCHLARAFFENLAND, 1900 - In the Land of Cockaigne
• EINE FREUNDSCHAFT, 1905
• PROFESSOR UNRAT, 1905 - Small Town Tyrant film 1930. dir. by Josef von Sternberg
• DIE BÖSEN, 1908
• DIE KLEINE STADT, 1909 - The Little Town
• DIE RÜCKKEHR VOM HADES, 1911
• SCHAUSPIELERIN, 1911
• DIE GROSSE LIEBE, 1912
• MADAME LEGROS, 1913
• DIE ARMEN, 1917 - The Poor
• DER UNTERTAN, 1918 - The Patrioteer film 1951, dir. by Wolfgang Staudte
• MACHT UND MENSCH, 1920
• DIE TOTE, 1921
• DIKTATUR DER VERNUNFT, 1923
• DER JÜNGLING, 1924
• ABRECHNUNGEN, 1924
• DER KNOPF, 1925 - The Chief
• MUTTER MARIE, 1927 - Mother Mary
• EUGÉNIE ODER DIE BÜRGESZEIT, 1928 - The Royal Woman
• SIE SIND JUNG, 1929
• SIEBEN JAHRE, 1929
• DIE GROSSE SACHE, 1930
• GEIST UND TAT, 1931
• EIN ERNSTES LEBEN, 1932 - The Hill of Lies
• GIE GEISTIGE LAGE, 1932
• DER HASS, 1933
• DAS BEKENNTNIS ZUM ÜBERNATIONALEN, 1933
• DER SINN DIESER EMIGRATION, 1934
• DIE JUGEND DES KÖNIGS HENRI QUATRE, 1935 (2 vol.) - Young Henry of Navarre
• DIE VOLLENDUNG DES KÖNIGS HENRI QUATRE, 1938 - Hnery, King of France
• MUT, 1939
• LIDICE, 1943
• EIN ZEITALTER WIRD BESICHTIGT, 1945
• DER ATEM, 1949
• EMPFANG BEI DER WELT, 1950
• EINE LIEBESGESCHICHTE, 1953
• GESAMMELTE WERKE, 1965-88 (18 vols., in progress)
• POLITISCHE ESSAYS, 1968 (ed. by Hans Magnus Enzensberger)
• GESAMMELTE WERKE, 1969-71 (4 vols.)
• VERTEIDIGUNG DER KULTUR, 1971

Other filmed works: Belcanto oder Darf eine Nutte weinen?, dir. by Robert von Ackeren, 1977