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Who is Friedrich Engels
First of all, this is the co-author of the works of Karl Marx, a German politician, philosopher and entrepreneur. One of the founders of Marxism. During Marx’s lifetime, only the first volume of Capital was published. The next two volumes were published thanks to Engels. He put together a sequel to Capital from ready-made fragments and drafts.
Brief biography of Friedrich Engels
Friedrich was born into a family of a large manufacturer on November 28, 1820 and was the eldest of nine children. Place of birth: Prussia, the city of Barman. Until the age of fourteen, he attended a city school, then a gymnasium. A year before graduating from high school, the young man left his studies at the insistence of his father. He dreamed that his son would continue his business.
In the period from 1838 to 1841, Friedrich comprehended knowledge of trade, earning money as a correspondent in the Barmen’s newspapers. Here he publishes his first articles. Then he left for Berlin for a year’s military service (conscription). There he became close to the left Hegelians, attended university lectures on philosophy.
After completing military service in 1842, young Engels went to England. There, in Manchester, there was a cotton mill, one of the owners of which was his father.
At the factory, Friedrich worked as a simple employee of a trading office. He was involved in the business of Ermen and Engels, being a co-owner until 1869. This allowed him to financially support his life.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
In 1844, a fateful meeting in Paris with Karl Marx made it clear that they have the same views. Engels took an active part in the activities of the Union of Communists, together with Marx wrote the program “The Manifesto of the Communist Party”. He constantly provided material assistance to the family of a friend and like-minded person.
In the period 1848 – 1849. together with Marx he published the Novaya Rhine newspaper. Participated in an armed uprising in Germany. Then he moved to Manchester, and from 1870 he began to live in London.
With Marx, Engels directed the activities of the First International. After Karl’s death, he devoted a lot of time to the development of Marxist ideology, its dissemination among the masses. Until the end of his life he was engaged in the compilation of two volumes of “Capital”, wrote a number of major works.
In 1894, the health of Friedrich Engels deteriorated. He died of cancer on August 5, 1895.
Personal life
By nature, he was cheerful and sociable, fluent in eight languages. “It’s easy to treat everything” – Engels’s personal motto. The manufacturer’s son had mistresses, girlfriends and fleeting connections. But historians know two women who were in a romantic relationship with Engels for many years.
In Manchester, he met the Irish sisters Mary and Lydia (Lizzie) Burns. The sisters had no education, they worked in a factory and were the daughters of a factory dyer. Mary became Frederick’s kept woman, and Lizzie became his housekeeper. A few days before Mary’s death in 1863, he entered into a formal marriage with the dying woman.
Frederick Engels and Lizzie Burns
After the death of his wife, he began to cohabit with her sister Lizzie. The marriage was also contracted a few hours before her death in 1878. Why is that? The answer is simple: so that his relatives do not disinherit. He had no children.
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