Katharina Mann

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Katharina "Katia" Hedwig Mann-Pringsheim (July 24, 1883–April 25, 1980) was the youngest child and only daughter (among four sons) of the Jewish mathematician and artist Alfred Pringsheim and his wife Hedwig Dohm Pringsheim, who was an actress in Berlin before her marriage. Katia was also a granddaughter of the writer and women's right activist Hedwig Dohm. Her twin brother Klaus Pringsheim was a conductor, composer, music writer and music pedagog, active in Germany and Japan.

Life

Katia was born in Feldafing near Munich. At age 21, in the fall of 1904, she aborted her studies of physics and mathematics on the request of her mother and aunt, to marry the writer Thomas Mann on February 11, 1905, in Munich. She continued her studies as a guest student for another four semesters. Katia Thomas Mann had six children: Erika, Klaus, Angelus Gottfried "Golo" Thomas, Monika, Elisabeth, and Michael.

After the birth of Monika in 1910, Katia Mann became ill. The illness was first suspected to be tuberculosis, but later X-ray examinations could not find any physical changes. A psychosomatic illness was considered likely, especially after her own testimony. She spent several months in sanatoriums, which (according to her) strengthened her so that she could "stand it all". The sanatorium episode inspired Thomas Mann to his novel The Magic Mountain.

The tomb of Katia, Thomas and Michael Mann, in Kilchberg

As the Mann family lived in exile, Katia Mann took care of her six children and her husband. She was not just the good spirit of the family, but the connection point that kept them all together. She taught her gifted children, was her husband's manager, and was the family provider. She survived the deaths of three of her children (Klaus, Erika and Michael) and that of her husband. She died in Kilchberg near Zürich.

Thomas Mann made a sort of "portrait" of her in his novel Royal Highness.

Literature

Michael Mann (editor): Katia Mann: My Unwritten Memoirs. (Katia Mann: Meine ungeschriebenen Memoiren.) Fischer TB. Frankfurt, 2000. ISBN 3596146739
Inge and Walter Jens: Mrs. Thomas Mann. The life of Katharina Pringsheim. (Frau Thomas Mann. Das Leben der Katharina Pringsheim.) Rowohlt. Reinbek, 2003. ISBN 3498033387
Kirsten Jüngling/Brigitte Roßbeck: Katia Mann. The Woman of Wizards. (Katia Mann. Die Frau des Zauberers.) Brigitte Propyläen. 2003. ISBN 3549071914

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