author
1841–1910
A politically engaged German writer and lawyer, he turned the upheavals of the 19th century into popular historical and biographical works. His life touched journalism, parliament, and public debate, giving his books a direct view of imperial Germany and the legacy of 1848.
Born in Leipzig in 1841, he was the son of the revolutionary Robert Blum, whose execution after the 1848 uprisings made the family name famous in German political history. He studied law in Leipzig and Berlin, earned a doctorate, and worked as a lawyer before also becoming active in public life.
He served as a nationalliberal member of the North German Reichstag and later wrote widely on German politics and the history of the 19th century. During the Franco-Prussian War he reported from the front, and he became known for historical writing as well as for a biography of his father, a book that also drew criticism for its strongly partisan view.
His career moved between law, politics, journalism, and business, and that mix shows in his writing: it is shaped by direct involvement in the arguments of his time. He died in Rheinfelden in 1910.