On 5 May 1818 in the quiet rural town of Trier, on the Western border of Prussia (now Germany), a son was born into a comfortable upper middle-class home on the river Moselle. Karl was the third of nine children born to Henriette and Hirschel Marx. In his youth he wrote lyric poetry; later he became a philosopher, newspaperman, historian, social scientist, and revolutionary. Today Marx is widely recognized as the most influential socialist thinker of the nineteenth century; in fact, until recently almost half the world’s population lived in societies that claimed to be Marxist. But even in his own lifetime his ideas were modified and adapted to such a variety of circumstances that Marx himself denied being a Marxist. His ultimate concern was the development of human potential and…

3867 words

Citation: Wood, Kelsey. "Karl Marx". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 October 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2970, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2970 Karl Marx 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.