Katia Mann (born Katharina Hedwig Pringsheim; July 24, 1883 – April 25, 1980) was the youngest child and only daughter (among four sons) of the

German Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and artist

Alfred Pringsheim Alfred Pringsheim (2 September 1850 – 25 June 1941) was a German mathematician and patron of the arts. He was born in Ohlau, Prussian Silesia (now Oława, Poland) and died in Zürich, Switzerland. Family and academic career Pringsheim came ...

and his wife

Hedwig Pringsheim Hedwig Pringsheim (born Gertrud Hedwig Anna Dohm; 13 July 1855 – 27 July 1942) was a German actress. Born in Berlin, she was the daughter of Ernst Dohm and Hedwig Dohm-Schleh, who were Jewish converts to Christianity. She married Alfred Pringsh ...

, who was an actress in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

before her marriage. Katia was also a granddaughter of the writer and women's rights activist

Hedwig Dohm Marianne Adelaide Hedwig Dohm (née Schlesinger, later Schleh; 20 September 1831 – 1 June 1919) was a German feminist and author. Family She was born in the Prussian capital Berlin to assimilated Jewish parents, and her father was baptized. ...

. Her twin brother

Klaus Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus * Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American base ...

was a conductor, composer, music writer and music pedagogue, active in Germany and Japan. She married the writer

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

Life

Katia was born in Feldafing near

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, into one of the wealthiest families in Germany. She was the granddaughter of German-Jewish industrialist Rudolf Pringsheim and the great-niece of the banker

Hugo Pringsheim Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

. At the age of 21, in the fall of 1904, she aborted her studies of

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and mathematics on the request of her mother and aunt, to marry the writer

on February 11, 1905, in Munich. She continued her studies as a guest student for another four semesters. Katia and Thomas Mann had six children (see section " Children" ''infra''). Katia later converted to her husband's Lutheranism.Translation by Leslie Willson of ''Thomas Mann: Das Leben als Kunstwerk'' (München C. H. Bick'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1999).

Children

Franz von Lenbach, Porträt von Katia Pringsheim

Illness, exile and death

Katia Mann became ill in autumn 1911, a year after Monika's birth. The illness was first suspected to be

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

, but later

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

examinations could not find any physical changes. Her mother, Hedwig, put the illness down to exhaustion. Katia had given birth to four children and suffered two miscarriages in less than five years. In addition, she typed for her husband and arranged his appointments on top of the tasks of a large household. Hedwig realised that her daughter needed rest, and in January 1912, Katia was one of the first patients to be admitted to the ''Wald Sanatorium'' in Davos, Switzerland. Thomas Mann's visits to her there inspired his novel ''

The Magic Mountain ''The Magic Mountain'' (german: Der Zauberberg, links=no, ) is a novel by Thomas Mann, first published in German in November 1924. It is widely considered to be one of the most influential works of twentieth-century German literature. Mann s ...

''. Up to May, 1914, Katia spent several months in

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

s, which (according to her) strengthened her so that she could "stand it all". While the Mann family lived in exile, Katia Mann continued to take care of her six children and husband. She was not just a strong woman but a unifying figure that kept the family together. She educated her children and was her husband's office manager. She outlived three of her children (Klaus, Erika and Michael) and her husband. She died in Kilchberg near

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

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

Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it t ...

''.

Notes

References

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films ''Thief'' (1981), ...

(editor): ''Katia Mann: My Unwritten Memoirs.'' (''Katia Mann: Meine ungeschriebenen Memoiren.'') S.Fischer, Frankfurt 1974, ; Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt 2000, **English edition: Katia Mann: ''Unwritten Memories'', edited by Elisabeth Plessen and Michael Mann, translated by Hunter and Hildegarde Hannum. Alfred A. Knopf, 1975. *Inge and

Walter Jens Walter Jens (8 March 1923 – 9 June 2013) was a German philologist, literature historian, critic, university professor and writer. He was born in Hamburg, and attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums from 1933 to 1941, when he gained his Ab ...

: ''Mrs. Thomas Mann. The life of Katharina Pringsheim.'' (''Frau Thomas Mann. Das Leben der Katharina Pringsheim.'') Rowohlt. Reinbek, 2003. *Kirsten Jüngling / Brigitte Roßbeck: ''Katia Mann. The Wizard's Wife.'' (''Katia Mann. Die Frau des Zauberers.'') Propyläen. 2003.

External links

* * Thomas Mann Collection. Yale Collection of German Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Katharina 1883 births 1980 deaths German people of Jewish descent Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States German Lutherans

Katia Katia is a feminine given name. It is a variant of Katya. Notable people with this name Actresses and models * Katia Dandoulaki, Greek actress *Katia Margaritoglou, Greek fashion model and beauty contestant *Katia Winter (born 1983), Swedis ...