Friedrich Engels

Profession: Communist Philosopher

Nationality:

Biography: Friedrich Engels was born into a wealthy Prussian industrial family but went on to live a double life as a businessman and a philosopher, revolutionary writer and close collaborator of fellow socialist thinker Karl Marx.

Engels became a communist in 1842 and moved to England on the one hand to work in his family's factory in Manchester, but also because he believed England had the best potential for a Communist revolution. In 1845 he published his influential book "The Condition of the English Working Classes" after studying the lives of the poor in Manchester with the help of Irish woman Mary Burns, whom he had begun a relationship with.

Engels first met Marx in 1843 and remained close friends and collaborators till Marx's death in 1883. Engels also financially supported Marx. In 1848 together they published "The Communist Manifesto" in Brussels, which setting out their Communist principles. The two men tried to aide the revolutions in Europe in 1848, moving back to Germany and publishing the newspaper, "Neue Rheinische Zeitung". After the failure of the revolutions in Germany and Hungary, and then a wanted man, Engels returned to England where he lived under surveillance.

After Marx's death in 1883 Engels worked to maintain his legacy, republishing his writings and publishing new volumes of "Das Kapital" based on Marx's notes. He died of cancer in London in 1895.

Born: November 28, 1820
Birthplace: Barmen, Kingdom of Prussia
Star Sign: Sagittarius

Died: August 5, 1895 (aged 74)
Cause of Death: Throat cancer