author
Otto von Corvin
1812–1886
A restless 19th-century journalist and political writer, he turned military experience, revolution, and exile into vivid books with a sharp, argumentative edge. He is especially remembered for anticlerical writing and for throwing himself directly into the upheavals of 1848–49.
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About the author
Born in Gumbinnen, East Prussia, Otto Julius Bernhard von Corvin-Wiersbitzki was a German author, journalist, and political activist. He was educated in the Prussian cadet system and served as an officer before leaving the army and moving toward a literary and public career.
His life was closely tied to the revolutions of 1848–49. Sources describe him as taking part in the Baden uprising, where he became chief of the general staff of the republican forces at Rastatt. After the defeat, he was sentenced to death, though the sentence was later commuted to imprisonment.
Corvin went on to write widely, and his name is often linked with fiercely critical, anticlerical works, especially Pfaffenspiegel. He died in Wiesbaden in 1886, leaving behind the image of a combative writer who lived as intensely as he wrote.