Karl Marx.

On May 5, 1818, Karl Heinrich Marx was born in Trier, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia. His father, Herschel Mordechai, converted from Judaism to Lutheranism and changed his name to Heinrich to escape antisemitism and practice law. Karl attended the Trier Gymnasium and then studied law at the University of Bonn, where he briefly served as president of the Trier Tavern Club. He transferred to the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin, graduating in 1841 with a doctorate in philosophy. Initially aiming for a university career, he instead became editor of the liberal newspaper Rheinische Zeitung in Cologne, which was shut down by Prussian authorities in 1843.

After the Rheinische Zeitung was suppressed, Marx moved to Paris in 1843, where he wrote Zur Judenfrage On the Jewish Question, a critique of civil rights. In Paris he met Friedrich Engels, the son of a wealthy capitalist, who became his lifelong collaborator and financial supporter. Together they developed the communist ideology. Forced to leave Paris, they moved to Brussels, where Marx wrote The German Ideology and The Poverty of Philosophy, a critique of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. On February 21, 1848, Marx and Engels published The Communist Manifesto, commissioned by the Communist League, which famously declared that all history is a class struggle. After being expelled from Belgium, Marx returned to Paris and then to Cologne, where he faced two trials for inciting armed rebellion but was acquitted. In 1849, with financial help from Engels, he settled in London for the rest of his life.

In London, Marx became a central figure in the International Working Men’s Association the First International, founded in 1864. He authored its inaugural address and many subsequent declarations. His magnum opus, Das Kapital, was drafted in three volumes; only the first volume was completed and published in 1867. The second and third volumes were edited and published posthumously by Engels.

Marx married Jenny von Westphalen on June 19, 1843. They had seven children, but three died in childhood: Edgar, Guido, and Franziska. Their daughters Eleanor and Laura both committed suicide—Eleanor in 1898 and Laura in 1911. Eldest daughter Jenny died of cancer two months before Marx. His wife Jenny died in 1881. Marx was an early feminist, supporting extended rights for women, and he corresponded with Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War, advocating for the Union and abolition. Toward the end of his life, Marx became open to the possibility of achieving socialism through democratic means, though he believed revolution might be necessary in repressive states.

Karl Marx’s analysis of capitalism and class struggle inspired revolutionary movements across the globe, leading to the establishment of communist states in Russia, China, Cuba, and elsewhere. Marx was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and his image appears on the cover of The Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery in London, where his grave remains a pilgrimage site. Marx’s work continues to be studied and debated.