mas·och·ism
Pronunciation: 'ma-s&-"ki-z&m, 'ma-z&- also 'mA-
Function: noun
Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary, from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch died 1895 German novelist
1 : a sexual perversion characterized by pleasure in being subjected to pain or humiliation especially by a love object -- compare SADISM
2 : pleasure in being abused or dominated : a taste for suffering
bah i got his name fucked up... not Richard masoch....
Richard was the psychiatrist who coined the term... bleh here----
SACHER-MASOCH, LEOPOLD RITTER VON
Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895) was an Austrian novelist, from whose name the term "masochism" was derived by the psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing. He was born in Lemberg, Galicia, on January 1, 1836. His father, who had recently been created a chevalier by Emperor Francis I, was chief of police of Lemberg. His mother was a Polish aristocrat. His paternal aunt, who lived with the family during his childhood, was the Countess Zenobia. Sacher-Masoch adored her and was enraptured by the beatings she gave him. It was to these experiences that his later fascination with being dominated by women was attributed.
In 1848, his family moved to Prague. He attended school there, receiving excellent reports and winning a prize for his school leaving essay. Although he was interested in writing and the theater, his father wished him to study law. Sacher-Masoch entered the University of Prague, transferring to the university at Graz and receiving the degree of doctor of law in 1855. He began teaching history at the university the following year. His first published work, which appeared in 1857, was a study of the rebellion in Ghent. It was not well received by historians, being criticized as too novelistic.
In 1861, he became enamored of Anna von Kottowitz, the wife of a physician, who was ten years his senior. She eventually left her husband and children and moved in with him. Their relationship developed into a sadomasochistic one; Anna dominated him, with his encouragement, beating him with her fists and also using whips and birches.
Sacher-Masoch's next significant liaison was with Fanny Pistor. The two of them signed a contract, which stated, in part:
Herr Leopold von Sacher-Masoch gives his word of honour to Frau Pistor to become her slave and to comply unreservedly, for six months, with every one of her desires and commands.... The mistress (Fanny Pistor) has the right to punish her slave (Leopold von Sacher-Masoch) in any way she thinks fit for all errors, carelessness or crimes of lese-majeste on his part.
After a long and impassioned courtship with a mysterious woman who called herself "Wanda von Dunayev" after the heroine in his novel Venus im Pelz, Sacher-Masoch married her in a private ceremony in 1872. The woman, whose real name was Aurora Rumelin, and he eventually formally married.
During his marriage, Sacher-Masoch's masochistic tendencies continued to develop. His wife beat him with a cat-o'-nine-tails studded with nails. At his urging, she took lovers, while he also occasionally sought out women who might be convinced to dominate him. Eventually, he left her for Hulda Meister, whom he had hired as his chief translator for a magazine he was publishing.
By the time he was in his late 50s, Sacher-Masoch's mental health had begun to deteriorate. By March 1895, his condition had worsened so much that he was becoming violent and suffering delusions. Finally, on March 9, 1895, he was discreetly removed to the asylum for the insane in Mannheim. The public was told that he had died, and flattering obituaries were written about him. These accounts indicated that Sacher-Masoch died in Lindheim, Hesse, on March 3, 1895. Cleugh, however, claims that he actually died in the asylum in Mannheim in 1905.
Sacher-Masoch's novels were realistic and gained a devoted following. Some of his works, such as Venus im Pelz (Venus in Furs, 1870), depict people deriving sexual pleasure from suffering pain and humiliation. Among his other writings are Das Vermachtnis Kains (The Legacy of Cain), which appeared in four volumes from 1870 to 1877; Falscher Hemelion (False Ermine, 187
; Die Messalinen Wiens (The Messalinas of Vienna, 1874); and Die Schlange im Paradies {The Snake in Paradise, 1890).
There you go
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