Moritz Gottlieb Saphir

On 3 December 1827, he founded the Tunnel über der Spree literary society, as a kind of "personal bodyguard" according to Theodor Fontane.

The playwright Kurt Schall challenged him to a duel, and a satirical poem about Henriette Sontag in the Spenerschen Zeitung even led to a short term of imprisonment.

Fleeing to Paris, he quickly achieved fame through a series of lectures, and he received an invitation from Louis Philippe I, but he returned to Bavaria in 1831 and took over the editorship of the Bayerische Beobachter.

His apologetic manner and newfound restraint resulted in official forgiveness, and even an appointment as a functionary in the Royal Bavarian Court Theatre.

On 1 January 1837, the ban was lifted and on the same day he founded Der Humorist (1837-1862), a daily satirical publication which he edited until his death in 1858.

During the Revolution of 1848 he became the first head of a Revolutionary Writers' Association, but with the continuation of unrest he resigned and retreated to Baden until the situation had resolved.