Jewish leading Orthodox rabbis of European Jewry in the first half of the nineteenth century.
He was a teacher to thousands and a powerful opponent to the Reform movement in Judaism, which was attracting many people from the Jewish communities in the Austrian Empire and beyond. As Rav of the city of Pressburg, he maintained a strong Orthodox Jewish perspective through communal life, first-class education, and uncompromising opposition to Reform and radical change.
Sofer established a yeshiva in Pozsony (Pressburg in German, today Bratislava, Slovakia), the Pressburg Yeshiva, which became the most influential yeshiva in Central Europe, producing hundreds of future leaders of Hungarian Jewry. This yeshiva continued to function until World War II; afterward, it was relocated to Jerusalem under the leadership of the Chasam Sofer’s great-grandson, Rabbi Akiva Sofer (the Daas Sofer).
Sofer published very little during his lifetime, however his posthumously published works include more than a thousand responsa, novellae on the Talmud, sermons, biblical and liturgical commentaries, and religious poetry. He is an authority who is quoted many times in Orthodox Jewish scholarship. Many of his responsa are required reading for semicha (rabbinic ordination) candidates. His Torah chiddushim (original Torah insights) sparked a new style in rabbinic commentary, and some editions of the Talmud contain his emendations and additions.
Sofer died in Pressburg on 3 October 1839
Link to Wikipedia biography