Rabbi Moshe Schick, the Maharam Schick, was born on 21 Adar I 5567 (1807) in Birkenhain, Hungary (now in Slovakia), the son of Rabbi Yosef Schick, of a family descended from Rabbi Chanoch Heinich Schick of Shklov. As a child he was slow to grasp and struggled even with a single page of Gemara; it was through great effort and perseverance that he advanced until he excelled.

At eleven he was sent to study with his uncle, Rabbi Yitzchak Frankel, av beit din of Regensdorf, and then joined the Chatam Sofer's yeshiva in Pressburg, becoming one of his foremost disciples. His teacher called him "my bookcase of holy books", and it is told that once, when he fell asleep with his head on his shoulder, the Chatam Sofer stopped the others from waking him: "This is a walking Sefer Torah."

In 1838, on his teacher's recommendation, he became rabbi of Jergen (Szentgyörgy) near Pressburg, where he opened a yeshiva and taught for nearly three decades. In 1861 he was called to Khust, together with his yeshiva of some 800 students, the largest in Hungary. He combined every quality: immense learning, practical wisdom, uprightness and humility. The leading halachic authority of Hungary in his day, he was one of the leaders of Orthodoxy at the time of the split with the Neologs.

His responsa, She'elot uTeshuvot Maharam Schick, answer questions from every community and are still widely cited. He passed away on 1 Shevat 5639 (1879).