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Júlia da Silva Bruhns

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Birth Date:
14.08.1851
Death date:
11.03.1923
Categories:
Writer
Nationality:
 german, brazilian
Cemetery:
Set cemetery

Júlia da Silva Bruhns (14 August 1851 – 11 March 1923) was the wife of the Lübeck senator and grain merchant Johann Heinrich Mann, and mother of writers Thomas Mann and Heinrich Mann.

Júlia, a Roman Catholic, was born in Paraty, Brazil, the daughter of the German farmer Johann Ludwig Herman Bruhns and of Brazilian Maria Luísa da Silva, the daughter of a Portuguese immigrant, a lady who also had South American Indian blood. Júlia's father owned several sugar cane plantations between Santos and Rio de Janeiro. Her mother died in childbirth at 28 when Júlia was six. She had three brothers and one sister. One year after her mother's death, her father decided to send his children back to Germany. They lived in Lübeck, where Júlia had an uncle. At six, Julia didn’t speak a word of German. She stayed in a boarding school until she was 14 years old, while her father was back in Brazil caring for the farms.

She married Thomas Johann Heinrich Mann in 1869. She was 17, he 29. They had five children:

  • (Luís) Heinrich Mann
  • (Paulo) Thomas Mann
  • Julia (Elisabeth Therese) (Lula) Mann
  • Carla (Augusta Olga Maria) Mann
  • (Carl) Viktor Mann

After the death of her husband and as consequence of a bladder surgery, Júlia went to live in Munich with her children.

She wrote an autobiographical work called Aus Dodos Kindheit, in which she described her idyllic childhood in Brazil.

Her sons Heinrich and Thomas created characters inspired by her in several of their books, referring to her South American blood and passionate artistic temperament. In his autobiography, Thomas Mann describes Júlia as "Portuguese-Creole Brazilian". In Buddenbrooks she was the inspiration for Gerda Arnoldsen and Toni Buddenbrook. In Doktor Faustus, she became the wife of Senator Rodde. In Tonio Kröger, she was the mother, Consuelo. In Death in Venice, she appears as the mother of the protagonist, Gustav von Aschenbach.

Her two daughters both committed suicide: Carla poisoned herself in 1910, and Lula hanged herself in 1927.

In her later years Júlia moved frequently and lived mostly in hotels. She died in a hotel room in Weßling, Germany, watched over by her three sons.

Source: wikipedia.org

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        Relation nameRelation typeBirth DateDeath dateDescription
        1Viktor MannViktor MannSon12.04.189021.04.1949
        2Heinrich MannHeinrich MannSon27.03.187111.03.1950
        3Thomas  MannThomas MannSon06.06.187512.08.1955
        4Carla MannCarla MannDaughter23.09.188130.07.1910
        5Julia LöhrJulia LöhrDaughter13.08.187710.05.1927
        6Johann Siegmund Mann, Jr.Johann Siegmund Mann, Jr.Father in-law02.04.179701.02.1863
        7Nelly MannNelly MannDaughter in-law15.02.189817.12.1944
        8Katia  MannKatia MannDaughter in-law24.07.188325.04.1980
        9
        Marija KanovaDaughter in-law00.00.188600.00.1947
        10Elisabeth MannElisabeth MannSister in-law00.00.183800.00.1917
        11Friedrich MannFriedrich MannBrother in-law16.09.184731.03.1926
        12Klaus MannKlaus MannGrandson18.11.190621.05.1949
        13Golo MannGolo MannGrandson27.03.190907.04.1994
        14Michael MannMichael MannGrandson21.04.191901.01.1977
        15Erika MannErika MannGranddaughter09.11.190527.08.1969
        16Monika MannMonika MannGranddaughter07.06.191017.03.1992
        17Elisabeth Mann-BorgeseElisabeth Mann-BorgeseGranddaughter24.04.191808.02.2002
        18Leonie MannLeonie MannGranddaughter10.09.191625.10.1986

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