Heinrich Mann

Heinrich Mann (1871–1950) was a German writer and the older brother of Thomas Mann. Born in Lübeck into a prosperous merchant family, he wrote novels, novellas, essays, and plays. He became particularly well known for the social satire “Professor Unrat” (1905) and the novel “Der Untertan” (1918), which critically examined bourgeois hypocrisy and authoritarian structures in the Wilhelmine German Empire. His major later works include “Die Jugend des Königs Henri Quatre” and “Die Vollendung des Königs Henri Quatre.” From 1930 to 1933, Mann served as president of the poetry section of the Prussian Academy of Arts. After being expelled from the academy and emigrating via France to the United States, he wrote, among other works, antifascist texts. “Professor Unrat” was adapted for film in 1930 as “The Blue Angel,” starring Marlene Dietrich.