"Baron Munchausen (/ˈmʌntʃaʊzən/;[a] German: [ˈmʏnçˌhaʊzn̩], English approximation: myoonk-how-zen) is a fictional German nobleman created by the 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.
Born in Bodenwerder, Electorate of Hanover, the real-life Münchhausen fought for the Russian Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739. Upon 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 ephemeral magazine pieces and then in English as the 1785 book, which was first published in Oxford by a bookseller named Smith. The book was soon translated into other European languages, including a German version expanded by the poet Gottfried August Bürger. 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. Perhaps fearing a libel suit, Raspe never acknowledged his authorship of the work, which was only established posthumously." - (en.wikipedia.org 23.11.2019)
