Tilmann Lahme presents his new biography "Thomas Mann. A Life" (dtv) at the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main, commemorating Mann's 150th birthday on June 6, 2025.
Thomas Mann emerges as the literary magician of the twentieth century: a Nobel laureate and celebrated genius, yet deeply unhappy. He loves but is forbidden to love, constrained by the conventions of his time. This tension becomes both a driving force for great literature and a source of profound suffering. Following his early worldwide success with 'Buddenbrooks' and later 'The Magic Mountain,' all doors open to him, even to the White House. His voice becomes the most prominent German voice against Hitler, and he accumulates unprecedented honors. His wife Katia and six children surround him like a fortress, yet the abyss remains just one step away.
About the Author: Tilmann Lahme, born in 1974, is a literary historian and author. He worked as an editor for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung's feuilleton and held a professorship in Literary Studies at Lüneburg University. Lahme has authored numerous publications about the Mann family, including an acclaimed biography of Golo Mann (2009) and the bestseller 'The Manns: Story of a Family' (2015).
This event is a collaboration between the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 of the German National Library and dtv.
