Thomas Mann (1875–1955) wrote some of the twentieth century’s most influential novels, including Buddenbrooks (1901), Death in Venice (1912), The Magic Mountain (1924), and Doctor Faustus (1947). He explored themes of art, morality, illness, and the conflict between the individual and society with psychological depth and intellectual force, earning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929. When the Nazis rose to power, Mann chose exile, living in Switzerland and the United States, where he spoke out against fascism and defended democratic ideals. His legacy endures as that of a modernist master whose works continue to illuminate the complexities of human existence.