author
Paul Lafargue
1842–1911
A sharp-tongued socialist writer and activist, he is best remembered for The Right to Be Lazy and for helping spread Marxist ideas in France and Spain. His life joined political struggle, journalism, and family ties to Karl Marx in a way that still draws readers today.
2 Audiobooks
The right to be lazy, and other studies
by Paul Lafargue
Le droit à la paresse : réfutation du droit au travail de 1848
by Paul Lafargue
About the author
Born in Santiago de Cuba in 1842, Paul Lafargue later studied medicine in Paris, but politics became the center of his life. He was drawn into the socialist movement early, associated with the First International, and became one of the key popularizers of Marxist ideas in the French-speaking world.
Lafargue was also closely linked to Karl Marx's family: he married Marx's daughter Laura in 1868. Over the years he lived and worked in France, Spain, and England, writing essays, articles, and polemics while taking part in socialist organizing. He is especially known for The Right to Be Lazy, a provocative attack on the worship of endless work.
He remained an influential figure in French socialism into the early 20th century. In 1911, near Paris, Lafargue and Laura Marx Lafargue ended their lives together, leaving behind a story shaped by conviction, controversy, and a lasting place in socialist history.