Karl Marx is one of the most influential figures in human history, yet his personal life was far more chaotic than his rigid economic theories. He lived most of his life in poverty, relying on friends and erratic journalism work to survive. Furthermore, he was a rowdy student, a romantic poet, and a loving father who gave his children strange nicknames. Consequently, the real man was much more complex than the stern face on the statues. Explore these fascinating details about the father of modern communism.
Karl Marx
Friends and family called Karl Marx “The Moor” throughout his life. They chose this nickname because of his dark complexion and thick, bushy black hair.
He served as the co-president of the Trier Tavern Club during his university days. He drank wildly and often provoked the local police with his rowdy behavior.
He actually fought a duel with a rival student while studying at the University of Bonn. The blade left a small, permanent scar above his left eye as a souvenir of the battle.
Before he turned to philosophy, he desperately wanted to succeed as a poet and novelist. He wrote a scorpion-themed humor novel and dedicated volumes of romantic poetry to his fiancée.
His wife, Jenny von Westphalen, gave up her aristocratic title to marry him. She left behind her comfortable wealth to live a life of exile and poverty with him.
Karl Marx earned his main income for a decade by writing for an American newspaper. He worked as a European correspondent for the New York Daily Tribune and filed over 350 articles.
He once wrote a letter directly to Abraham Lincoln to congratulate him on his re-election. In the text, he praised the President for his stance against slavery during the Civil War.
He managed his money terribly and frequently lived in squalor. In one desperate moment, he pawned his own pants just to buy food for his family.
Friedrich Engels did not just co-write books; he financially supported the entire Marx family. Without Engels sending constant checks, Das Kapital would never have existed.
He suffered from a painful skin condition known as hidradenitis suppurativa. He often claimed that the agony of the boils on his body fueled his anger at the bourgeoisie.
Remarkably, he solved complex differential calculus problems for fun. He used mathematics to relax his mind when his philosophical writing became too stressful.
A railway employer rejected Karl Marx for a clerk job simply because he had terrible handwriting. The hiring manager turned him down because he could not read the application.
Despite his massive fame today, only 11 people attended his funeral in 1883. His family originally buried him in a modest, obscure plot in Highgate Cemetery.
The British Communist Party moved his body to a new location in 1954. They built the massive, famous bust that tourists visit today and placed it on a prominent hill.
The British government denied citizenship to Karl Marx, leaving him stateless for most of his adult life. He renounced his Prussian citizenship to avoid arrest and never gained a new nationality.
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