Carl Marx (1818 - 1883)

Karl Marx is managed by the Germany Project. Join: Germany Project Discuss: germany

Biography

Karl Marx was a German philosopher, social and political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He was – in collaboration with Friedrich Engels – the famous founder of Scientific Socialism.

Karl Marx has German Roots.

Carl was born on 5 May 1818 in Trier, the son of Heinrich Marx and Henriette, née Presborck.^[1][2][3] He was born at Brückengasse 664 (now Brückenstraße 10) in Trier, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia's Province of the Lower Rhine. This area is nowadays part of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany).

Carl was baptized (Lutheran) 26 Aug 1824. He was ancestrally Jewish, his maternal grandfather was a Dutch rabbi, and his paternal line had been rabbis in Trier since 1723. They lead a wealthy middle-class existence, with Heinrich's (Heschel's) family owning a number of Moselle vineyards. Heschel had converted from Judaism to Lutheranism for professional reasons. In 1815 Heinrich Marx began working as an attorney.^[4]

Heinrich's wife Henriette was a Dutch Jewish woman from a prosperous business family that later founded the company Philips Electronics: she was a great-aunt to Anton and Gerard Philips, and a great-great-aunt to Frits Philips. Her brother-in-law Lion Philips and her nephew, Karl's first cousin, Benjamin Frederik Philips (1830–1900), were wealthy industrialists, upon whom Karl and Jenny Marx would later often come to rely for loans while they were exiled in London. Henriette converted to Lutheranism on 20 November 1825.^[5]

Carl was the third of nine children, and he became the oldest surviving son when his brother Mauritz died in 1819. In 1819 Heinrich moved his family to a ten-room property near the Porta Nigra (Simeongasse 1070, now Simeonstraße 8).^[6] Young Karl was baptized into the Lutheran Church on 26 August 1824,^[7] but later in life he became a known atheist, a belief which also figured prominently in his system of political philosophy. His surviving siblings, Sophie, Hermann, Henriette, Louise, Emilie and Karoline, were also baptized as Lutherans. Prior to high school, Karl was privately educated by his father.^[4] Starting in 1830, Karl attended high school in Trier, graduating in 1835.^[8]

In October 1835 Karl enrolled as a student in the faculty of law (juristische Fakultät) of the University of Bonn,^[4][8] There he also began studying philosophical and historical topics and writing poems and smaller literary works inspired by Romanticism.^[9] In October 1836 he transferred to the faculty of law of the University of Berlin.^[4] In addition to law (which he completed in 1838), he studied English and Italian and intensified his studies of philosophy and history.^[8] Of particular interest to him was Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's philosophy, whose dialectical method had a huge impact on Marx.^[10] In 1837 he became involved with a group of radical thinkers known as the Young Hegelians in Berlin.^[4] Between 1839 and 1841, Marx studied Greek philosophy and wrote his doctoral dissertation, The Difference Between the Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature (Differenz der demokritischen und epikureischen Naturphilosophie).^[8] On 15 April 1841 he received his Ph.D. from the University of Jena,^[11] and then moved to Bonn, in search of a teaching position at the University of Bonn.^[8]

His plan to become a teacher at Bonn University failed. So he began working as a journalist instead. Through 1842, Marx wrote articles for the Young Hegelian radicals' paper, Deutsche Jahrbücher, and, starting in April 1842, also for an opposition newspaper in Cologne, the Rheinische Zeitung,^[8] which led him to address economic and social issues.^[9] In October 1842 Marx became the editor of the Rheinische Zeitung and therefore moved to Cologne. In November 1842 he first met his future collaborator Friedrich Engels in Cologne, who had also been writing articles for the Rheinische Zeitung. Engels was visiting the newspaper's office on his way to Manchester, England, where he would stay for the next couple of years. The Rheinische Zeitung was terminated by Prussian state censorship in spring 1843. Marx resigned as the editor on 17 March 1843.^[5][8]

As a teenager, Karl had fallen in love with his childhood friend Jenny von Westphalen, who was born in Salzwedel and had moved to Trier with her family in 1816. Jenny's father, Johann Ludwig von Westphalen, was a friend of Karl's father, and he also befriended the teenage Karl, and would often go on walks with him to discuss philosophy and literature.^[12] Karl and Jenny became engaged in 1836, before Karl moved to Berlin.^[13] On November 10, 1837, Karl wrote a letter to his father, in which he described his feelings for Jenny and the beginnings of his turmoil over Hegelian philosophy:^[14]

"All the poems of the first three volumes I sent to Jenny are marked by attacks on our times, diffuse and inchoate expressions of feeling, nothing natural, everything built of moonshine, complete opposition between what is and what ought to be, rhetorical reflections instead of poetic thoughts, but perhaps also a certain warmth of feeling and striving for poetic fire."

• • • ...

"Owning to being upset over Jenny's illness and my vain, fruitless intellectual labours, and as the result of nagging annoyance at having had to make an idol of a view that I hated, I became ill, as I have already written to you, dear Father. When I got better I burnt all the poems and outlines of stories, etc., imagining that I could give them up completely, of which so far at any rate I have not given any proofs to the contrary."

• • • ...

"Please give greetings from me to my sweet, wonderful Jenny. I have read her letter twelve times already, and always discover new delights in it. It is in every respect, including that of style, the most beautiful letter I can imagine being written by a woman."

On 19 June 1843 Carl married Jenny von Westphalen in Kreuznach.^[15][16][17] They had the following children:^[4]

• Jenny Caroline, "Jennylein" (1 May 1844 – 11 Jan 1883), married Charles Longuet;
• Jenny Laura (26 Sep 1845 – 26 Nov 1911), married Paul Lafargue;
• Charles Louis Henri Edgar, "Cornel Musch" (3 Feb 1847 – 6 Apr 1855);
• Heinrich/Henry Edward Guy, "Guido", "Föxchen" (5 Nov 1849 – 19 Nov 1850);
• Jenny Eveline Frances, "Franziska" (28 Mar 1851 – 14 Apr 1852);
• Jenny Julia Eleanor, "Tussy" (16 Jan 1855 – 31 Mar 1898), was life partner of Edward Aveling;
• N.N. (born and died 6 July 1857).

In November 1843 Karl and Jenny moved to Paris, France. Marx continued to write and edit for Jahrbücher in Paris and included articles that he received from Engels in England.^[8] In December 1843 Karl met his third cousin Heinrich Heine in Paris.^[5] In April 1844 the Prussian government accused Marx of high treason, with an arrest order if he crossed the border.^[8] On 28 August 1844, Marx met Engels again, this time in Paris, beginning a lifelong friendship.^[4] In January 1845 the Prussian government pressured France to banish Marx from Paris, and so Marx and his family moved to Brussels, Belgium, where he was again joined by Engels in April. That summer, through August, Marx and Engels traveled to Manchester, England, to study working and living conditions there. The same year, the Prussian government forced Marx to renounce his Prussian citizenship.^[8]

In February 1848 Marx and Engels wrote their most famous work, the Communist Manifesto, published in London, England.^[8] In 1848 the Brussels police detained Jenny and served an expulsion order. The Marx family returned to Paris and then moved to Cologne.^[18] There Marx started the publication of a daily newspaper, the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, on 1 June 1848, wherein he commented on the revolutionary events in Germany and Europe. After the failed German revolution, he had to leave Prussia and, in August 1849, moved with his family to London.^[9]

The following years, the family was plagued by poverty and illness. Only three out of the seven children born between 1844 and 1857 survived to adulthood: Jenny (1844-1883), Laura (1845-1911), and Eleanor (1855-1898), of whom only Jenny had offspring. In spite of this, Marx worked intensely, doing research in the reading room of the British Museum and writing his main opus Das Kapital as well as other publications.^[9] In 1850 Engels settled in Manchester, where he worked in his father's firm Ermen and Engels, through which he was able to financially support Marx and his family.^[8]

On 23 Jun 1851 the unmarried long-term housekeeper of the Marx family, Helena Demuth, gave birth to a son,

• Henry Frederick "Freddy" Demuth (23 Jun 1851 – 28 Jan 1929), married Ellen Murphy (born 1854).

Freddy is the putative son of Karl Marx, although Helena never disclosed who the father was. Freddy was fostered out to a working class family in London called Lewis. He received only a limited education and became a tool maker, fitter, gunsmith, and mechanical engineer.^[19][20][21]

Towards the end of the 1870s, Karl was plagued by disease. For this reason, many of his works - including the second and third volumes of Das Kapital - remained fragments and were only published by Friedrich Engels after Marx's death.^[9]

Grave and memorial to Karl Marx in Highgate East Cemetery

Karl was shaken by the deaths of his wife Jenny on 2 December 1881 and his oldest daughter Jenny on 11 January 1883.^[9] Karl passed away on 14 March 1883 in London.^[22][23] He is buried at Highgate Cemetery, London Borough of Camden.^[24]

The prominent inscription on the Grave and memorial to Karl Marx reads:

WORKERS OF ALL LANDS UNITE

KARL MARX

THE PHILOSOPHERS HAVE ONLY INTERPRETED THE WORLD IN VARIOUS WAYS - THE POINT HOWEVER IS TO CHANGE IT.

Census Data

1851 Census, Strand, Saint Annes, Middlesex, England:^[25]

• Charles Mark, Head, M, 32, Married, Doctor (Philosophical Author), Prussia;

• Charles Mark's Spouses and Children:

• Jenny Mark, Wife, F, 30, Married, Prussia;
• Jenny C Mark, Daughter, F, 6, France;
• Henry E Mark, Son, M, 4, Belgium;
• Jenny L Mark, Daughter, F, 5, Belgium;
• Jenny E Mark, Daughter, F, 0, St Anns, Middlesex;

• Other People on This Record:

• Helena Demuth, F, 27, Prussia, Unmarried, House Servant (Helena Demuth was the housekeeper of Karl and Jenny Marx for many years);
• Elizabeth Moss, F, 46, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, Widow, Nurse (Elizabeth Ross was a nurse that lived with Karl Marx and his family in 1851).

1861 Census, St Pancras, Marylebone, Parochial, London, Middlesex, England:^[26]

• Karl Mara, Head, M, 42, Married, Dr Of Philosophy Author, Prussia;

• Other People on This Record:

• Jenny Mara, Wife, F, 42, Married, Prussia;
• Jenny Mara, Daughter, F, 16, France;
• Laura Mara, Daughter, F, 15, Belgium;
• Elenora Mara, Daughter, F, 6, London;
• Helena Mara, F, 38, Prussia, Single, Cook, Servant (Helena Demuth, cf. above);
• Marian Krew, F, 25, Prussia, Single, Housemaid, Servant (Anna Maria "Marianne" Creuz (born 27 Jun 1835 in St. Wendel, Saarland; died 23 Dec 1862 in London) was the half sister of Helena Demuth)^[19][27]

1871 Census, Kentish Town, St Pancras, London, Middlesex, England:^[28]

• Karl Marx, Head, M, 52, Married, Doctor Of Philosophy Author, Trier, Prussia;

• Karl Marx's Spouses and Children:

• Jenny Marx, Wife, F, 56, Married, Salzwedel, Prussia;
• Jenny Marx, Daughter, F, 25, Paris, France;
• Eleanor Marx, Daughter, F, 16, London;

• Other People on This Record:

• Helene Demeth, F, 46, St Wendel, Prussia, Marital Status Unknown, General Servant, Servant (Helena Demuth, cf. above).

1881 Census, St Pancras, London, Middlesex, England:^[29]

• Karl Marx, Head, M, 68, Married, Author Political Economy, (Foreign), Germany;

• Karl Marx's Spouses and Children:

• Jenny Marx, Wife, F, 66, Married, Germany;
• Eleanor Marx, Daughter, F, 26, Single, St Pancras, Middlesex, England;

• Other People on This Record:

• Helen Dennich, F, 57, (Foreign), Germany, Single, General Servant, Servant (Helena Demuth, cf. above).

Sources

1. ↑ Carl Marx in der Sammlung Trier, Deutschland, Geburtsregister 1798-1904. Ancestry.com. Ancestry Sharing Link
2. ↑ Carl Marx in der Sammlung Trier, Deutschland, Geburtsregister 1798-1904. Ancestry.com. Ancestry Sharing Link
3. ↑ Stadtbibliothek Trier: Birth Certificate Carl Marx, No. 231 of the Birth Register (1818)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6} English Wikipedia article on Karl Marx
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} German Wikipedia article on Karl Marx
6. ↑ Karl-Marx -Trier, RLP - Citizen Memorials on Waymarking.com
7. ↑ 26 August 1824 Baptism of Karl Marx
8. ↑ ^{8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11} Tucker, Robert C. Chronology: The Lives of Marx and Engels. and Introduction. In: Tucker, Robert C., ed. The Marx-Engels Reader. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1972, 1978, p. xv-xxxviii
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5} Kurzbiographie Karl Marx. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Museum-Karl-Marx-Haus, Brückenstr. 10, 54290 Trier
10. ↑ English Wikipedia article on Influences on Karl Marx
11. ↑ Laudien, Stephan. Prädikat: "Vorzüglich würdig." Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, 8 May 2019
12. ↑ English Wikipedia article on Ludwig von Westphalen
13. ↑ Encyclopedia.com: Marx, Jenny von Westphalen (1814–1881)
14. ↑ Tucker, Robert C. Discovering Hegel. In: Tucker, Robert C., ed. The Marx-Engels Reader. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1972, 1978, p. 7-8
15. ↑ Bad Kreuznach: Marriage Record Carl Marx and Jenny von Westphalen, Personenstandsregister der Stadt Kreuznach von 1843, Nr. 51
16. ↑ Augias.net: Marriage Record Carl Marx and Jenny von Westphalen, Personenstandsregister der Stadt Kreuznach von 1843, Nr. 51
17. ↑ Marx Hochzeit
18. ↑ English Wikipedia article on his wife Jenny von Westphalen
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1} de-academic.com: Helena Demuth
20. ↑ CompGen: Zum 200. Geburtstag von Lenchen Demuth: Das Geheimnis des berühmten Dienstmädchens. 31 Dec 2020
21. ↑ The sad story of Fred Demuth – Marx’s son in Hackney
22. ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2J8V-2HR : 31 December 2014), Karl Marx, 1883; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Pancras, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
23. ↑ GRO Reference: 1883 M Quarter in PANCRAS Volume 01B Page 136. General Register Office online index.
24. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #680
25. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGFY-H5F : 9 November 2019), Charles Mark, Saint Annes, Middlesex, England; citing Saint Annes, Middlesex, England, p. 11, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
26. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7RL-5KX : 3 March 2021), Karl Mara, St Pancras, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
27. ↑ German Wikipedia article on Helena Demuth
28. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VB68-L7L : 19 February 2021), Karl Marx, 1871.
29. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK6R-79S7 : 10 December 2017), Karl Marx, St Pancras, London, Middlesex, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 48, Piece/Folio 211/59, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,359.

See also:

• Wikidata: Item Q9061
• Mitteilung Helmut Elsner, Karl-Marx-Haus-Museum, Brückenstraße 10, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Trier. Cites:
  • Heinz Monz. Karl Marx: Grundlagen der Entwicklung zu Leben und Werk. Trier: NCO-Verlag, Neu & Co, 1973
  • Zur Persönlichkeit von Marx' Schwiegervater Johann Ludwig von Westphalen. In: Schriften aus dem Karl-Marx-Haus Trier, Heft 9, Trier, 1973
  • Manfred Schönke. Karl und Heinrich Marx und ihre Geschwister: Lebenszeugnisse, Briefe, Dokumente. Marx-Engels-Stiftung e.V., Pahl-Rugenstein Nachfolger, 1 Jan 1993
  • Helmut Elsner. Karl Marx in Kreuznach 1842/43. In: Schriften aus dem Karl-Marx-Haus, Heft 43: Marion Barzen, Helmut Elsner, Jacques Grandjonc, Elke Röllig, Inge Taubert sowie Bert Andréas (+), Jacques Grandjonc und Hans Pelger. Studien zu Marx' erstem Paris-Aufenthalt und zur Entstehung der "Deutschen Ideologie". Trier, 1990
  • Genealogie Marx (Wandtafel im Museum Karl-Marx-Haus)
  • Gero v. Wilcke. Karl Marx' Trierer Verwandtschaftskreis. In: Genealogie, Deutsche Zeitschrift für Familienkunde, Band XVI, 32. Jgg., Heft 12, Dez. 1983, S. 761-782

• Ancestors/Descendants of Royal Lines (Contributors: Manuel Abranches de Soveral, Reynaud de Paysac, F.L. Jacquier <Genealogy of Lewis Carroll, Justin Swanstrom, The Royal Families of England Scotland & Wales by Burkes Peerage; Debrett's Peerage & Baronage; Table of descendants French Canadian Genealogical Society>, H.R. Moser <Burke Peerage>, L. Orlandini, O.Guionneau, L.B. de Rouge, E. Polti, A.Terlinden <Genealogy of the existing British Peerage, 1842>, L. Gustavsson, C. Cheneaux, E. Lodge, S. Bontron <Brian Tompsett>, R. Dewkinandan, C. Donadello), https://en.geneastar.org/genealogy/marx/karl-marx

• Family Tree Karl Marx

• Stammtafel Karl Marx und Jenny von Westphalen

• https://www.thepeerage.com/p71451.htm#i714503

• https://geneee.org/karl/marx?lang=de

• Mehring, Franz. Karl Marx: The Story of His Life. New York, 1957 (originally published in German in 1918, this is the standard biography of Marx, according to anthologist Robert C. Tucker)

• Heinrich, Michael. Karl Marx and the Birth of Modern Society: The Life of Marx and the Development of His Work. Volume I: 1818-1841. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2019

• 50 Klassiker der Soziologie: Biografie Karl Marx

• Limmroth, Angelika. Jenny Marx. Die Biografie. Berlin: Dietz, 2018

• Mitscherlich, Margarete. Die Frauen des Genossen Marx. Juli 1981

• London Remembers: Karl Marx

• Carver, Terrell. Marx’s ‘Illegitimate Son’ or Gresham’s Law in the World of Scholarship. University of Bristol, February 2005