Baron Munchausen is a fictional
nobleman created by German writer
Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia. The character is loosely based on a real
baron, Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen (1720–1797). Born in
Bodenwerder,
Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the real-life Münchhausen fought for the
Russian Empire in the
Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739. After retiring in 1760, he became a minor celebrity within German aristocratic circles for telling outrageous
tall tales based on his military career. After hearing some of Münchhausen's stories, Raspe adapted them anonymously into literary form, first in German as magazine pieces, and then in English. The fictional Baron's exploits,
narrated in the first person, focus on his impossible achievements as a sportsman, soldier, and traveller, for instance riding on a
cannonball, fighting a forty-foot crocodile, and travelling to the Moon. The real-life Münchhausen was deeply upset at the development of a fictional character bearing his name, and threatened legal proceedings against the book's publisher. Several concepts and medical conditions have been named after the character, including
Munchausen syndrome, the
Münchhausen trilemma, and
Munchausen numbers. (
Full article...)
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