Heinrich Mann

Born in Lübeck on March 27, 1871, he was the older brother of Thomas Mann and came of age in a prominent merchant family. After working in publishing, he devoted himself to writing and spent important stretches of his life in Berlin and France.

His novels and essays often confronted power, class, and nationalism head-on. Professor Unrat later inspired the film The Blue Angel, and The Loyal Subject became one of his most famous satires of imperial German society.

An outspoken critic of authoritarianism, he went into exile after the Nazi rise to power and eventually settled in the United States. He died in 1950, leaving behind a body of work remembered for its intelligence, courage, and strong social conscience.