Mauthner, Fritz (Hořitz, Bohemia, 1849-1923, Meersburg), was for many years a journalist in Berlin, retiring in 1911 to Meersburg on Lake Constance. He is the author of a number of novels, the best known of which is the trilogy of social criticism Berlin W (1886-90). His other novels include Der neue Ahasver (2 vols., 1882) and Die böhmische Handschrift (1897). He had a gift for parody, which he exploited in Nach berühmten Mustern (collected 1898), and showed his satirical talent in Schmock (1883). The term Sprachkritik entered philosophical currency through his Beiträge zu einer Kritik der Sprache (3 vols., 1901-3, reprint 1967); it is used with direct and critical reference to Mauthner by Wittgenstein in his Tractatus logico-philosophicus.

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