Thomas Mann (1875-1955) is widely touted as one of the greatest German writers of the 20th century. A novelist and essayist of the realist school, many of his works were acknowledged internationally as modern classics even during his lifetime. In 1929, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his early novels. In addition to Death in Venice, he is best known for his essays on notable German figures including author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (The Sorrows of Young Werther, Faust) and composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), and his other notable works, including The Magic Mountain (1924), Buddenbrooks (1901), and Tristan (1903). Mann’s writing is celebrated for its rich symbolism, realism, and nuanced irony, in addition to the sophisticated technical mastery of his prose.

Mann was born in Lubeck, Germany, in 1875 to a well-off family. Mann was attracted to men throughout his life, though he never pursued relationships with the many men and boys for whom he had documented romantic or sexual yearnings.