Karl Marx :: Karl Marx Biography Essays

Karl Marx Karl Marx was the greatest thinker and philosopher of his time. His views on life and the social structure of his time revolutionized the way in which people think. He created an opportunity for the lower class to rise above the aristocrats and failed due to the creation of the middle class. Despite this failure, he was still a great political leader and set the basis of Communism in Russia. His life contributed to the way people think today, and because of him people are more open to suggestion and are quicker to create ideas on political issues. Karl Heinrich Marx was born May 5th, 1818 in Trier. Although he had three other siblings, all sisters, he was the favorite child to his father, Heinrich. His mother, a Dutch Jewess named Henrietta Pressburg, had no interest in Karl's intellectual side during his life. His father was a Jewish lawyer, and before his death in 1838, converted his family to Christianity to preserve his job with the Prussian state. When Heinrich's mother died, he no longer felt he had an obligation to his religion, thus helping him in the decision in turning to Christianity. Karl's childhood was a happy and care-free one. His parents had a good relationship and it help set Karl in the right direction." His ‘splendid natural gifts' awakened in his father the hope that they would one day be used in the service of humanity, whilst his mother declared him to be a child of fortune in whose hands everything would go well. (The story of his life, Mehring, page 2) In high school Karl stood out among the crowd. When asked to write a report on "How to choose a profession" he took a different approach. He took the angle in which most interested him, by saying that there was no way to choose a profession, but because of circumstances one is placed in an occupation. A person with a aristocratic background is more likely to have a higher role in society as apposed to someone from a much poorer background. While at Bonn at the age of eighteen he got engaged to Jenny von Westphalen, daughter of the upperclassmen Ludwig von Westphalen. She was the childhood friend of Marx's oldest sister, Sophie. The engagement was a secret one, meaning they got engaged without asking permission of Jenny's parents. Heinrich Marx was uneasy about this but before long the consent was given.