Karl Marx

Born in Trier, Prussia, on May 5, 1818, he studied at the universities of Bonn and Berlin before turning to journalism, philosophy, and political economy. His sharp criticism of existing social and political systems brought censorship, exile, and years of hardship, and he eventually settled in London, where he lived for the rest of his life.

His closest intellectual partnership was with Friedrich Engels, with whom he wrote The Communist Manifesto in 1848. Marx later spent many years researching capitalism, history, and class conflict, publishing the first volume of Das Kapital in 1867. His work argued that economic systems shape social life and that class struggle drives historical change.

Marx died in London on March 14, 1883. Long after his death, his writing remained deeply influential as well as fiercely debated, making him one of the most consequential political and economic thinkers of the nineteenth century.