About the Author
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch was born on January 27, 1836, at the Eastern fringes of the multinational, multiethnic, and multireligious Hapsburg Empire. Tolerance and cosmopolitanism are values that underpin his writing, from his early works as an academic historian, to his sympathetic literary portrayals of Jewish ghetto life in Galicia, to his erotic fictions. At the peak of a prolific career, Sacher-Masoch was considered a Realist of the first tier and was respected and admired on the international scene by authors including Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, and Henrik Ibsen. In 1883, he was awarded the prestigious Cross of the Legion of Honor, but by the time of his death his reputation was compromised, in no small measure due to his name’s association with the word “masochism.”
