Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch (; 27 January 1836 – 9 March 1895) was an Austrian nobleman, writer and journalist, who gained renown for his romantic stories of Galician life. The term ''

masochism Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

'' is derived from his name, invented by his contemporary, the Austrian psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing. Masoch did not approve of this use of his name. During his lifetime, Sacher-Masoch was well known as a

man of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, ei ...

, in particular a

utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island socie ...

thinker who espoused

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

and

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

ideals in his fiction and non-fiction. Most of his works remain untranslated into English.

Biography

Early life and education

Von Sacher-Masoch was born in the city of

Lemberg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

, the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, at the time a province of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

, into the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

family of an Austrian civil servant, Leopold Johann Nepomuk Ritter von Sacher (1797–1874), and Charlotte Josepha von Masoch (1802–1870), a Ukrainian noblewoman. The father later combined his surname with his wife's ''von Masoch'', at the request of her family (she was the last of the line). Von Sacher served as a Commissioner of the Imperial Police Forces in Lemberg, and he was recognised with a new title of nobility as Sacher-Masoch awarded by the Austrian Emperor. Leopold studied law, history and mathematics at

Graz University The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria. History The univer ...

(where he obtained a doctorate in history in 1856), and after graduating he became a lecturer there.

Galician storyteller

His early, non-fictional publications dealt mostly with Austrian history. At the same time, Masoch turned to the folklore and culture of his homeland, Galicia. Soon he abandoned lecturing and became a free man of letters. Within a decade his short stories and novels prevailed over his historical

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...

works, though historical themes continued to imbue his fiction. Panslavist ideas were prevalent in Masoch's literary work, and he found a particular interest in depicting picturesque types among the various ethnicities that inhabited

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

. From the 1860s to the 1880s he published a number of volumes of ''Jewish Short Stories'', ''Polish Short Stories'', ''Galician Short Stories'', ''German Court Stories'' and ''Russian Court Stories''.

''The Legacy of Cain''

In 1869, Sacher-Masoch conceived a grandiose series of short stories under the collective title '' Legacy of Cain'' that would represent the author's aesthetic '' Weltanschauung''. The cycle opened with the manifesto ''The Wanderer'' that brought out misogynist themes that became peculiar to Masoch's writings. Of the six planned volumes, only the first two were ever completed. By the middle of the 1880s, Masoch abandoned the ''Legacy of Cain''. Nevertheless, the published volumes of the series included Masoch's best-known stories, and of them, '' Venus in Furs'' (published 1870) is the most famous today. The novella expressed Sacher-Masoch's fantasies and fetishes (especially for dominant women wearing fur). He did his best to live out his fantasies with his mistresses and wives. In 1873 he married Angelika Aurora von Rümelin.

Philosemitism

Sacher-Masoch edited the Leipzig-based monthly literary magazine ''Auf der Höhe. Internationale Review'' (At the pinnacle. International review), which was published from October 1881 to September 1885. In his later years, he worked against local

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

through an association for adult education called the ''Oberhessischer Verein für Volksbildung'' (OVV), founded in 1893 with his second wife, Hulda Meister, who had also been his assistant for some years.

Private life and inspiration for ''Venus in Furs''

Fanny Pistor was an emerging literary writer. She met Sacher-Masoch after she contacted him, under the assumed name and fictitious title of Baroness Bogdanoff, for suggestions on improving her writing to make it suitable for publication. She was the inspiration for ''Venus im Pelz''.

Later years

In 1874, Masoch wrote the novel ''Die Ideale unserer Zeit'' (''The Ideals of Our Time''), an attempt to give a portrait of German society during its Gründerzeit period. In his late fifties, his

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles Stress (biology), stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-maki ...

began to deteriorate, and he spent the last years of his life under

psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psy ...

care. According to official reports, he died in Lindheim near Altenstadt, in 1895. It is also claimed that he died in an asylum in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

in 1905. Sacher-Masoch is the great-uncle of

Eva von Sacher-Masoch Eva von Sacher-Masoch, Baroness Erisso (4 December 1912 – 22 May 1991) was an Austrian aristocrat, great-niece of utopian humanist author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836–1895) whose father Leopold Johann Nepomuk Ritter von Sacher ("Ritte ...

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or kn ...

ess Erisso, mother of British singer and actress Marianne Faithfull.

Masochism

The term ''

'' was coined in 1886 by the Austrian psychiatrist

Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing (full name Richard Fridolin Joseph Freiherr Krafft von Festenberg auf Frohnberg, genannt von Ebing; 14 August 1840 – 22 December 1902) was a German psychiatrist and author of the foundational work ''Psychopathi ...

(1840–1902) in his book '' Psychopathia Sexualis'': Sacher-Masoch was not pleased with Krafft-Ebing's assertions. Nevertheless, details of Masoch's private life were obscure until Aurora von Rümelin's memoirs, ''Meine Lebensbeichte'' (My Life Confession; 1906), were published in Berlin under the pseudonym Wanda v. Dunajew (the name of a leading character in his ''Venus in Furs''). The following year, a French translation, ''Confession de ma vie'' (1907) by "Wanda von Sacher-Masoch", was printed in Paris by Mercure de France. An English translation of the French edition was published as ''The Confessions of Wanda von Sacher-Masoch'' (1991) by

RE/Search Publications RE/Search Publications is an American magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded by its editor V. Vale in 1980. In several issues, Andrea Juno was also credited as an editor. It was the successor to Vale's earlier punk rock fanz ...

Selected bibliography

* 1858 ''A Galician Story 1846'' * 1865 ''Kaunitz'' * 1866 ''Don Juan of Kolomiya'' * 1867 ''The Last King of Hungary'' * 1870 ''The Divorcee'' * 1870 '' Legacy of Cain. Vol. 1: Love'' (includes his most famous work '' Venus in Furs'') * 1872 ''Faux Ermine'' * 1873 ''Female Sultan'' * 1873 ''The Messalinas of Vienna'' * 1873–74 ''Russian Court Stories'': 4 Vols. * 1873–77 ''Viennese Court Stories'': 2 Vols. * 1874/76 ' 'Love Stories from Several Centuries'' 3 volumes, includes "" ("Bloody Wedding in Kyiv"), "Ariella" * 1874 ''Die Ideale unserer Zeit'' 'The Ideals of Our Time''* 1875 ''Galician Stories'' * 1877 ''The Man Without Prejudice'' * 1877 '' Legacy of Cain. Vol. 2: Property'' * 1878 ''The New Hiob'' * 1878 ''Jewish Stories'' * 1878 ''The Republic of Women's Enemies'' * 1879 ''Silhouettes'' * 1881 ''New Jewish Stories'' * 1883 ' (''The Mother of God'') * 1886 ''Eternal Youth'' * 1886 ''Stories from Polish Ghetto'' * 1886 ''Little Mysteries of World History'' * 1886 ''Bloody Wedding in Kyiv' (about Olga of Kiev) * 1887 ''Polish Stories'' * 1890 ''The Serpent in Paradise'' * 1891 ''The Lonesome'' * 1894 ''Love Stories'' * 1898 ''Entre nous'' * 1900 ''Catherina II'' * 1901 ''Afrikas Semiramis'' * 1907 ''Fierce Women''

Notes

External links

* * *
''Venus in Furs''
from

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

*
The Bookbinder of Hort
part of an anthology, ''Stories by Foreign Authors'' * *
The Letawitza

* Stanislav Tsalyk
Don Juan of Lviv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sacher-Masoch, Leopold Von 1836 births 1895 deaths Writers from Lviv 19th-century Austrian writers 19th-century Austrian novelists Austro-Hungarian writers Austrian journalists Austrian male writers Austrian socialists German-language writers Austrian erotica writers BDSM writers Austrian male novelists 19th-century male writers