Although Karl Emil Franzos has been largely forgotten, during the last two decades of his life he was an imposing figure on the Austro-German and central European literary scenes. His novellas, novels, and travelogues were translated into almost twenty languages, and his influence and prestige as an editor, critic, essayist, and journalist were considerable. Franzos's place in literary history has been secured by his role as the editor of Georg Büchner's works (1879), for it was Franzos who rescued Büchner's writings from near oblivion. Franzos was also important as an educator and as a mediator between the East and the West.

Born on 25 October 1848 in Podolia, Russia, near the eastern Galician town of Czortkow, in the midst of the revolutionary events of that year, Franzos remained committed throughout his life to the liberal and democratic, if nationalistic, values of the revolution. He was influenced by...