Michael Mann (6) (1919–1977)

Michael Mann was the youngest child of writer Thomas Mann and his wife Katia Mann. The family left Germany after the Nazis rose to power and moved first to Switzerland. Michael studied viola and violin in Zürich, Paris and then New York City after the family emigrated to the USA. In 1939, he married Gret Moser, with whom he had two sons as well as an adopted daughter. From 1942 to 1947, he was a violinist with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. He also made appearances as a viola soloist in the USA and Europe. Accompanied by pianist Yaltah Menuhin, he made a concert tour in 1951 and several recordings. Forced to give up performing due to a physical disability, he studied German literature at Harvard University, and later became a professor of German literature at the University of California, Berkeley. Her persuaded his mother to publish her memoirs, which he helped to edit, in 1975. He committed suicide at age 58.