Born in to a Jewish family in Bohemia, he moved to Vienna, Austria in 1877. His first articles were published in 1892, the year in which he began to attend university. Breaking off his studies in 1896 to devote himself wholly to writing, he founded the newspaper Die Fackel ("The Torch"), in 1899, and continued to direct and publish it until his death.
He irritated Freud, who in 1910 wrote to a friend 'he is a mad half-wit'.