S. Fischer on the occasion of his 150th birthday on December 24, 2009: "Our characters matched each other, and I always felt that I was the born author for him and he was my born publisher." Thomas Mann to Hedwig Fischer, November 2, 1934. "S. Fischer, Verlag" has been operating since 1886. The German-speaking Jew from Hungary quickly became the most sought-after German publisher of modern literature at the turn of the 20th century. His company made literary history. Yet, little is known about him beyond his dates of life: 1859 to 1934. Who was this shrewd businessman with a widely quoted instinct for literary quality? How did someone like him react to the anti-Semitic hostility in the German Empire, in the Weimar Republic, and even in the "Third Reich"? Barbara Hoffmeister has explored these questions with rich knowledge and keen insight, creating a vivid portrait.