Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch (January 27, 1836 - March 9, 1895), writer and journalist, was born in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (now L'viv, Ukraine). He was the son of the police director in Lemberg and Charlotte von Masoch, a Ukrainian lady of noble birth. He started learning German language at age 12.
He had planned to write a series of six novels under the collective title The Heritage of Cain: only the first two were ever completed, of which Venus in Furs is the most famous. (Venus im Pelz is the original title in German). This novel tells of a man, Severin, so besotted to a woman, Wanda, that he requests to be treated as her slave, and encourages her to treat him in progressively more degrading ways. Severin describes his feelings during these experiences as supersensuality.
The word masochism was coined by the 19th century psychiatrist Krafft-Ebing with Sacher-Masoch and his writings in mind.
He died in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany.
See also
- Venus in Furs - his best-known novel
- Sadism and masochism in fiction
- the Story of O
- Paraphilia
External links
- Leopold von Sacher-Masoch article from Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia