Death in Venice (German: Der Tod in Venedig) is a novella by German author Thomas Mann, drawing in part on his own experience in Venice during the 1911 cholera epidemic. It was published in a limited edition by Hyperion-Verlag in 1912, serialised from October to November the same year in Die neue Rundschau, and issued in a trade edition by Fischer in 1913. It presents an ennobled writer who visits Venice, finding the experience liberating and uplifting, then increasingly becomes obsessed by the sight of a boy in a family of Polish tourists—Tadzio, a nickname for Tadeusz. Tadzio was likely based on a boy named Władzio whom Mann had observed during his 1911 visit to the city.
Adaptations (1)
Death in Venice was adapted into a 1971 film.
Death in Venice1971 · film · 130 min · dir. Luchino Visconti · IMDb ↗IMDb7.370%Composer Gustav von Aschenbach travels to Venice for health reasons. There, he becomes obsessed with the stunning beauty of an adolescent Polish boy named Tadzio who is staying with his family at the same Grand Hôtel des Bains on the Lido as Aschenbach.
