Book cover for "Venus in Furs" 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 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.
At the end of the book, Severin ceases to desire to submit, stating that men should dominate women until the time when women are equal to men in education and rights: an ending that can be viewed as both misogynist and feminist.
The novel closely parallels events in Sacher-Masoch's own life.
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.
The lyrics of The Velvet Underground song "Venus in Furs" refer to this book.
A 1994 black and white film called "Venus in Furs" is based on the 1869 classic novel, but is set in modern times. The film was directed by Maartje Seyferth and Victor E. Nieuwenhuijs.
In the 1998 Todd Haynes film Velvet Goldmine, main character Brian Slade's backing band is called "Venus in Furs".
- Note regarding personal names: Ritter is a title, usually translated Knight, not a first or middle name.
See also
External links - The complete text of Venus in Furs (http://ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04/vnsfr10.txt)
- Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (http://homepage.newschool.edu/~schlemoj/imptopia/sacher-masoch.html)
- Leopold von Sacher-Masoch article (http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/SEN/CH22.HTM#b1-SACHERMASOCH,%20LEOPOLD%20RITTER%20VON) from Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia
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