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Karl Marx

Karl Marx 001.jpg
Karl Marx in 1875
Born (1818-05-05)5 May 1818
Trier, Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine, Kingdom of Prussia (now Trier, Germany)
Died 14 March 1883(1883-03-14) (aged 64)
Resting place Tomb of Karl Marx, Highgate Cemetery, London, England, United Kingdom
Nationality
  • Prussian (1818–1845)
  • Stateless (after 1845)
Spouse(s)
(m. 1843; died 1881)
Children 7, including Jenny, Laura, and Eleanor
Parents
Relatives

Philosophy career
Alma mater
Era 19th-century philosophy
Region Western philosophy
School
Main interests
Philosophy, economics, history, politics
Notable ideas
Marxist terminology, surplus value, contributions to the labour theory of value, class struggle, alienation and exploitation of the worker, materialist conception of history
Signature
Karl Marx Signature.svg

Karl Marx (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary.

Biography

Born in Trier, Germany, Marx studied law and philosophy at university. He married Jenny von Westphalen in 1843. Due to his political publications, Marx became stateless and lived in exile with his wife and children in London for decades, where he continued to develop his thought in collaboration with German thinker Friedrich Engels and publish his writings, researching in the reading room of the British Museum.

Büste Karl Marx
Bust of Karl Marx, in the garden of his place of birth in Trier (Germany)

His best-known titles are the 1848 pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto, and the three-volume Das Kapital. His political and philosophical thought had enormous influence on future intellectual, economic and political history and his name has been used as an adjective, a noun and a school of social theory.

Marx's theories about society, economics and politics – collectively understood as Marxism – hold that human societies develop through class struggle. In capitalism, this manifests itself in the conflict between the ruling classes (known as the bourgeoisie) that control the means of production and the working classes (known as the proletariat) that enable these means by selling their labour power in return for wages.

Trier Karl Marx Statue BW 2018-05-12 16-41-31
Germany, Trier, Statue of Karl Marx

Employing a critical approach known as historical materialism, Marx predicted that, like previous economic systems, capitalism produced internal tensions which would lead to its self-destruction and replacement by a new system: socialism. Marx actively argued that the working class should carry out organised revolutionary action to topple capitalism.

Marx's ideas have had a profound impact on world politics and intellectual thought. Followers of Marx have often debated amongst themselves over how to interpret Marx's writings and apply his concepts to the modern world.

Marx has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history, and his work has been both highly praised and criticised. Many intellectuals, labour unions, artists and political parties worldwide have been influenced by Marx's work, with many modifying or adapting his ideas. Marx is typically cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science.

Personal life

Jenny laura marx
Jenny Carolina and Jenny Laura Marx (1869): all the Marx daughters were named Jenny in honour of their mother, Jenny von Westphalen.

Marx and von Westphalen had seven children together, but partly owing to the poor conditions in which they lived whilst in London, only three survived to adulthood. 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 loving father.

Marx frequently used pseudonyms, often when renting a house or flat, apparently 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 letters as "A. Williams". His friends 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.

Death

The Soviet Union 1968 CPA 3627 stamp (Karl Marx)
150th Birth Anniversary of Scientific Communism Founder Karl Marx stamp

Marx developed a catarrh that kept him in ill health for the last 15 months of his life. It eventually brought on the bronchitis and pleurisy that killed him in London on 14 March 1883 (age 64), dying a stateless person. Family and friends in London buried his body in Highgate Cemetery (East), London, on 17 March 1883 in an area reserved for agnostics and atheists. Marx and his family were reburied on a new site nearby in November 1954. The tomb at the new site, unveiled on 14 March 1956, bears the carved message: "Workers of All Lands Unite".

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See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Karl Marx para niños

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