Karl Marx: Karl Heinrich Marx FRSA (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary (German pronunciation: [maks]). His most well-known works are The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867–1883), a four-volume work. Marx’s political and philosophical ideas had an enormous impact on the intellectual, economic, and political history that followed. His name has appeared as an adjective, a noun, and a social theory institution.
Karl Marx
Early Life, Family and Education
Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in Trier (then part of the Kingdom of Prussia’s Province of the Lower Rhine) to Heinrich Marx and Henriette Pressburg. Karl Marx’s father was a barrister.
He married Jenny von Westphalen in 1843 and the couple had seven children. However, due to the poor conditions in London (where Marx lived in exile), only three of them survived– Jenny Caroline (1844–1883), Jenny Laura (1845–1911), Edgar (1847–1855), Henry Edward Guy (“Guido”; 1849–1850), Jenny Eveline Frances (“Franziska”; 1851–1852), Jenny Julia Eleanor (1855–1898) and the last one died before being named (July 1857). To make it difficult for the authorities to locate him, Karl Marx never rented an apartment under his given name.
Marx received his early education by his father and in 1830 he took admitted at Trier High School. In October 1835 at the age of 17, Marx travelled to the University of Bonn wishing to study philosophy and literature, but his father insisted on the law. Marx was excused from military duty when he turned 18 due to a condition referred to as a “weak chest”. Marx joined the Poets’ Club, a group comprising political radicals that were monitored by the police at the University. Marx’s grades in the first term were acceptable but later on, they deteriorated and his father admitted him at the University of Berlin.
Karl Marx Career
Karl Marx after receiving his degree began writing for the newspaper Rheinische Zeitung and became its editor in the year 1842. However, the publication was banned by the Prussian government as it had radical views. In 1843, Karl Marx with his wife Westphalen relocated to Paris where he met émigré Friedrich Engels who became his lifelong friend.
Marx and Engels published criticisms of ‘The Holy Father’ in 1845. During this time, the Prussian government expelled Marx from France. Marx moved to Belgium with his associate Engels, where he renounced his Prussian citizenship. In 1847, the recently formed Communist League in London, England commissioned Marx and Engels to write ‘The Communist Manifesto’ for them. Marx and his friend both portrayed historical materialism and predicted that the forthcoming proletarian revolution will establish the working class as the new governing class of the world and eradicate the capitalist system.
Karl Marx: Das Capital
Karl Marx fled Europe in 1848 before being expelled by the Belgian government. Marx, who was denied British citizenship, spent the remainder of his life as a journalist for the New York Daily Tribune in London. Marx focused on the development of his theories while isolating himself from London Communists.
Karl Marx published his economic theory titled Das Kapital in 1867, in which he outlined his theory of capitalism as a dynamic system and revealed the economic law of motion of modern society. Marx worked on a number of unfinished manuscripts. Marx passed away on March 14, 1883, after having Pleurisy.
Personal Life
Marx and von Westphalen had seven children together, but only three reached maturity, in part due to the poor living conditions they endured in London. Their children were: Jenny Caroline (m. Longuet; 1844–1883); Jenny Laura (m. Lafargue; 1845–1911); Edgar (1847–1855); Henry Edward Guy (“Guido”; 1849–1850); Jenny Eveline Frances (“Franziska”; 1851–1852); Jenny Julia Eleanor (1855–1898) and one more who died before being named (July 1857). According to his son-in-law, Paul Lafargue, Marx was a devoted father. In 1962, there were allegations that Marx fathered a son, Freddy, out of wedlock by his domestic, Helene Demuth, but the claim is disputed for lack of documented evidence.
Marx frequently used pseudonyms, often when renting a house or flat, ostensibly to make it harder for the authorities to track him down. While in Paris, he used that of “Monsieur Ramboz”, whilst in London, he signed off his correspondence as “A. Williams”. His acquaintances referred to him as “Moor”, owing to his dark complexion and black curly hair, while he encouraged his children to call him “Old Nick” and “Charley”. He also bestowed nicknames and pseudonyms on his friends and family as well, referring to Friedrich Engels as “General”, his housekeeper Helene as “Lenchen” or “Nym”, while one of his daughters, Jennychen, was referred to as “Qui Qui, Emperor of China” and another, Laura, was known as “Kakadou” or “the Hottentot”
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