Leopold von Sacher-Masoch

Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Born(1836-01-27)27 January 1836
Died9 March 1895(1895-03-09) (aged 59)
Lindheim near Altenstadt, German Empire
Occupation(s)Writer, journalist
Known forMasochism
Notable workVenus in Furs

Leopold Ritter[1] von Sacher-Masoch (German: [ˈleːopɔlt fɔn ˈzaxɐ ˈmaːzɔx]; 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 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.[2]

During his lifetime, Sacher-Masoch was well known as a man of letters, in particular a utopian thinker who espoused socialist and humanist ideals in his fiction and non-fiction. Most of his works remain untranslated into English.

  1. ^ Regarding personal names: Ritter was a title before 1919, but now is regarded as part of the surname. It is translated as Knight. Before the August 1919 abolition of nobility as a legal class, titles preceded the full name when given (Graf Helmuth James von Moltke). Since 1919, these titles, along with any nobiliary prefix (von, zu, etc.), can be used, but are regarded as a dependent part of the surname, and thus come after any given names (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke). Titles and all dependent parts of surnames are ignored in alphabetical sorting. There is no equivalent feminine form.
  2. ^ Alison M. Moore, Sexual Myths of Modernity: Sadism, Masochism and Historical Teleology, (Lexington Books, 2016) ISBN 9781498530736[page needed]