Edward B. Aveling

Edward Bibbins Aveling was an English writer, lecturer, and scientist born on November 29, 1849, and he died on August 2, 1898. He studied at the University of London and became known as a comparative anatomist and botanist, but his public reputation grew even more through his speaking and writing on evolution, secularism, and socialism.

He was a remarkably varied figure: journalist, editor, playwright, actor, poet, and political pamphleteer. In the 1880s and 1890s he became active in the British socialist movement and is often remembered in connection with Eleanor Marx, with whom he worked closely. He also helped bring socialist ideas to a wider audience through lectures, essays, and translations, including work related to Karl Marx's Capital.

For readers today, Aveling is interesting because he represents a very Victorian kind of public intellectual—equally at home in science, politics, and popular debate. His books and pamphlets reflect the fierce arguments of his age about religion, class, and modern thought.