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Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch ( 27 January , 1836 — 9 March , 1895 ) was an Austrian writer and journalist, who gained renown at his time for his stories of Galician life and Romantic novels. The term Masochism is derived from his name. During his life, Sacher-Masoch was well-known as a man of letters, who was seen by some as a potential successor to Goethe and was often compared to Turgenev . He was a Utopia n thinker who espoused Socialist and Humanist ideals in his fiction and non-fiction. Most of his works remain untranslated in English; the novel '' Venus In Furs '' is his only book commonly available in English. BIOGRAPHY Galician Storyteller Von Sacher-Masoch was born in the capital of Galicia , Lemberg, Austrian Empire (now Lviv , Ukraine ), into the familiy of an Austrian police director and Charlotte von Masoch. He started learning German at age 12. He studied law, history and mathematics at Graz University and after graduating from it moved back to Lemberg where he became a professor. 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 works, though historic themes continued to imbue his fiction. Masoch found a particular interest in depicting picturesque types of various ethnicities that inhabited Galicia. In 1860s-1880s he published a number of volumes of ''Jewish Short Stories'', ''Polish Short Stories'', ''Galician Short Stories'', ''German Court Stories'', ''Russian Court Stories''. His works were published in translations in Russia and France . ''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 manifesto-like ''The Wanderer'' that brought out Misogynist theme that became peculiar to Masoch's writings. But of the six planned volumes only the first two were ever completed. By the middle of 1880s Masoch abandoned the idea of ''Legacy of Cain''. Nevertheless the published volumes of the series included Masoch's most known stories and '' Venus In Furs '' (1869) of them is the most famous today. The short novel 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. Private Life On 8 December , 1869 Leopold and his mistress Fanny Pistor signed a contract making Leopold von Sacher-Masoch the slave of Fanny Pistor Bogdanoff for the period of six months, with the stipulation, doubtlessly at Sacher-Masoch’s suggestion, that the Baroness wear furs as often as possible, especially when she was in a cruel mood. Sacher-Masoch took the alias of “Gregor,” a stereotypical male servant's name, and fitted out in disguise as the servant of the Baroness. The two traveled by train to Italy. As in '' Venus In Furs '', he traveled in the third class compartment, while she had a seat in first class, arriving in Venice (Florence, in the novel), where they were not known, and would not arouse suspicion.http://homepage.newschool.edu/~schlemoj/imptopia/sacher-masoch_venus.html He pressured his first wife, Aurora Von Römelin , whom he married in 1873 , into living out the experience of the book, against her preferences. He wasn't excited about his family life, got a divorce and married his assistant. Later Years In 1875 Masoch wrote '' The Ideals Of Our Time '', the author's attempt to give a portrait of German society during its Gründerzeit period. In his late 50s, his mental health began to deteriorate and Masoch spent the last years of his life in psychiatric help. According to official reports, he died in Lindheim , Germany in 1895 ; however some claim that he actually died in an asylum in Mannheim in 1905.http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/SEN/CH22.HTM#b1-SACHERMASOCH,%20LEOPOLD%20RITTER%20VON SACHER-MASOCH AND MASOCHISM The term '' Masochism '' was coined in 1886 by the Austrian Psychiatrist Von Krafft-Ebing in his seminal work '' Psychopathia Sexualis '':
Sacher-Masoch was not pleased with this development. Nevertheless details of Masoch's private life were obscure until Aurora Von Römelin 's memoirs were published in 1905 (under the pseudonym of ''Wanda von Sacher-Masoch''). BOOKS See Also: Bibliography of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch Selected bibliography of Masoch's fiction books: novels and collections of short stories. For detailed original bibliography, see the Main Article .
TRIVIA Sacher-Masoch is the great-uncle to British singer/actress Marianne Faithfull on her mother's side, the Viennese Baroness Eva Erisso . SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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