- Son of writer Thomas Mann and Katia Mann.
- Nephew of writer Heinrich Mann.
- Brother of writer Erika Mann.
- Brother of historiographer Golo Mann.
- Brother of Elisabeth Mann-Borgese.
- Having been stripped of German citizenship by the Nazi regime, he became a Czechoslovak citizen, but later emigrated - like the rest of his family - to the United States.
- Becoming a US citizen in 1943, he served in the US Army.
- Is buried in the Cimetière du Grand Jas in Cannes, France.
- Died in Monte Carlo from an overdose of sleeping pills.
- In World War II, he served as a Staff Sergeant of the 5th U.S. Army in Italy.
- Mann began writing short stories in 1924 and the following year became drama critic for a Berlin newspaper. His first literary works were published in 1925.
- In 1932 Klaus wrote the first part of his autobiography, which was well received until Hitler came to power.
- He likely committed suicide because of financial problems and social isolation.
- In 1924 he had become engaged to his childhood friend Pamela Wedekind, the eldest daughter of the playwright Frank Wedekind, who was also a close friend of his sister Erika. The engagement was broken off in January 1928.
- Mann became a U.S. citizen in 1943. The process of naturalization was delayed because of an investigation the FBI conducted into Klaus Mann's political and sexual activities; he was openly gay but not an adherent of marxist ideologies.
- Mann's novel Der Vulkan is one of the 20th century's most famous novels about German exiles during World War II.
- Since young adulthood, Klaus was using drugs, mostly opiates, to which he later became heavily addicted. His diaries document an attempted morphine-injection in 1933 when Hitler took power. Initially, the aspiring writer used opium, Eukodal and later heroin to possibly increase his creative energy, as was often the case for artists and intellectuals in literary circles at the time. He underwent drug detoxification in Budapest during his frantic travels and at the Kilchberg Sanatorium in Switzerland. After 1936, during his stay in New York his drug use and sexual adventures became unconstrained.
- In summer 1945, he was sent by the Stars and Stripes to report from Postwar-Germany.
- Throughout his life in the U.S., he identified himself as a liberal antifascist and cosmopolitan.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content