Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. He is noted for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and intellectual. His most famous works include The Magic Mountain, Death in Venice, and Buddenbrooks. Mann was a man of many words, and his works are renowned for their complexity and richness of language.