Heinrich Mann: biography, literary activity, main works

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

In the history of world literature there are two figures with the surname Mann: Heinrich and Thomas. These writers are siblings, the younger of whom became a prominent representative of the philosophical prose of the 20th century. The elder is no less famous, but has always been in the shadow of his great brother. The topic of the article is a biography of a talented person who devoted his whole life to literature, but died in poverty and loneliness. His name is Mann Heinrich.

Biography and origins

In 1871, a son was born in the family of German businessman Thomas Johann Heinrich Mann. The first-born later became one of the most famous authors of the 20th century, whose name is Heinrich Mann. Date of birth - March 27. The brother, whose figure occupies a more significant place in the history of world literature, was born four years later.

The literary activity of the sons of Mann absolutely did not meet family traditions, according to which, for twofor centuries, all members of this aristocratic family were engaged exclusively in commerce and social activities.

German and Brazilian blood flowed in the veins of the famous Mann brothers. Henry Sr. once married a woman whose parents were from South America.

The future writer grew up in favorable conditions. His father held an important public position, which guaranteed a bright future for all his children (and later there were five of them). However, the fate of the sons and daughters developed rather unexpectedly and tragically. Later, the history of this family, as well as its death, will be reflected in his famous novel "Buddenbrooks" by Thomas Mann.

After Heinrich graduated from the Katharineum - a famous gymnasium in Lübeck - he went to Dresden in order to learn the tricks of the trade in this city. But a year later, young Mann interrupted his studies.

Heinrich preferred to volunteer at one of the Berlin publishing houses. At the same time, he was educated at the Friedrich Wilhelm University. None of the Mann brothers completed their education, because above all else in life they wanted to write. The penchant for creativity was completely unusual for representatives of the old German merchant family. Unless, of course, we do not count Julia Mann, the mother of Thomas and Heinrich. This woman was distinguished by extravagant behavior, musicality and artistry.

In 1910, one of the daughters in the Mann family tragically died. Heinrich, whose work during this period was in a certain state of stagnation, suffered the loss of his sister extremely hard. he marriedonly four years later, at the very beginning of the war. The writer's choice was the Czech actress Maria Canova. But later, in America, fate brought him together with a woman named Nelly.

Travel

In 1893 Senator Johann Mann moved his family to Munich. Henry during this period undertook several trips, among which was a trip to St. Petersburg. The future writer did not have a permanent place of residence for many years. From the last decade of the nineteenth century until the beginning of the First World War, Heinrich Mann, whose photo is presented in this article, constantly moved from city to city. For several years the German prose writer lived in Italy. And quite a part of his travels was accompanied by his younger brother.

Permanent moving was also a necessary measure after the future writer suffered a serious lung disease in 1982. In order to restore he alth, the parents sent Heinrich to Wiesbaden. And it was at this time that the father of the famous prose writer passed away. After the final cure, Heinrich Mann created the first literary works.

Master Gnus, or the End of a Tyrant

The famous novel, whose protagonist is a pedantic high school teacher, was published a year after its creation. But this work, which Heinrich Mann wrote in 1904, was sharply criticized, and for some time it was completely banned. The “story of the fall of a man in love” was perceived especially negatively in the prose writer’s hometown.

At the heart of the plot is lifea man who valued power above all else. But since he could only manage his students, he tried with all his might to keep the younger generation in fear. But one day passion took possession of him and completely changed his life. No wonder the title of the novel says about the "end of one tyrant." Later, the novel was translated into many languages, and then the famous Hollywood director of German origin Sternberg made the film "The Blue Angel" based on it, starring Marlene Dietrich.

Differences in the views of the Mann brothers

Heinrich - a prose writer, known at the beginning of the century mainly among German-speaking readers - for many years completely stopped communicating with his younger brother Thomas. The reason was the sharp political differences. After moving to America, Heinrich Mann was in distress, which was also aggravated by the tragic death of his wife. Despite the quarrel, the younger brother came to the rescue. Thomas Mann was one of the we althiest German intellectual writers.

Mann Curse

Children and grandchildren of the German senator and businessman were accompanied by all sorts of misfortunes, which served as fertile ground for gossip and gossip. Both Henry's sisters committed suicide. In the same way, the second wife of the writer left this mortal world.

Thomas Mann, who reacted rather painfully to such events, reacted with strange relief to the death of his brother's wife, stating in a letter to one of his relatives that this woman only spoiled Heinrich's life because she drank too much,scandalized and, worst of all, worked as a waitress in a club. The great novelist himself and the author of the symbolic work “Death in Venice” allegedly struggled with his homosexual inclinations all his life. That did not stop him, however, from accusing his son of debauchery, who did not seek to hide his belonging to a sexual minority.

Loyal Subject

At the very beginning of the First World War, a novel by Heinrich Mann was also published, in which the author quite realistically depicted the mores of Kaiser Germany. Working on the image of the main character, the writer was able to show him "from the inside". Gesling in Mann's novel is a typical representative of German bourgeois society, whose characteristic features were aggressiveness towards everything alien and a pathological fear of limiting one's own power. This work, along with books by Sigmund Freud, Heinrich Heine and Karl Marx, was banned by the Nazis in the thirties.

Young years of King Henry IV

In 1935, in one of his most famous works, Heinrich Mann created a rather convincing image of the ideal ruler. The work reflects the events in the life of the monarch, which cover the period from childhood to the very death. Later, the author wrote a continuation of the novel, and these works formed a dilogy, which played the most significant role in the work of the German prose writer.

In exile

Abroad, Mann's literary activity did not bring any income. Perhaps the point was that his novels were of interest mainly to German readers. The tragedy in the family also played a significant role in the fact that Mann's career began to decline.

In 1950, an extremely poor and completely lonely man died in Santa Monica. A month before his death, the writer was offered to take the post of president of the Academy of Arts, which was located in East Germany. But Heinrich Mann was destined to die in a foreign land, all alone.