It is 1818, in Trier, a city in the Rhineland region of Prussia (present-day Germany). A boy named Karl Heinrich Marx is born into the household of Heinrich Marx, a lawyer from a Jewish rabbinical background who was forced to convert to Christianity under repressive Prussian laws. Karl’s mother, Henriette, was Dutch and a loving presence in the lives of her children.
The Marx family was financially comfortable—upper-middle class rather than wealthy. Karl was introduced early to philosophy, influenced by his father, who had experienced social ostracism due to his Jewish heritage. This exposure led Karl to Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire and Rousseau, whose ideas resonated with him.
Karl was the fourth of nine siblings, though many did not survive childhood. He was an active and sharp child, often getting his sisters to play pretend games with him, including making them act as horses. His father encouraged him to pursue philosophy, which Karl gradually embraced. He also began writing poems and short plays during this time.
Trier’s schools were modest, but Karl had access to a broad range of books that stirred deep questions. Contrary to the belief that he was a typical bookish youth, his teenage years were marked by confrontations—even with teachers. He had a natural inclination towards argument. One teacher described him as possessing “great intellectual energy” alongside “disruptive behaviour”. His early poetry expressed a fierce desire for dominance.
At university, these traits intensified. He enrolled at the University of Bonn to study law, as his father wished, but soon became arrogant and rebellious. He joined a club that mocked tradition and read banned literature. He drank heavily and was once locked in the university’s punishment cell for drunkenness—only for his friends to break in and turn it into another party.
He even participated in a duel, a dangerous but common ritual at the time. Thankfully, others intervened before serious harm occurred. The event upset his father deeply, prompting a letter of disappointment. Soon after, Karl was transferred to the University of Berlin, a stricter academic environment.
While travelling home to Trier, Karl was arrested for carrying an unauthorised firearm. Security remained tight due to post-Napoleonic tensions. He was eventually released following his father’s appeal to a judge.
In Berlin, Karl’s ideas evolved significantly. His rebellious streak and intellectual energy made him resistant to conformity. He joined radical societies questioning everything from religion to government. These were formative years. He graduated with a degree in philosophy, submitting a bold doctoral thesis on ancient Greek thought.
Soon after, Karl became editor of the Rheinische Zeitung, a liberal newspaper in Cologne. Around this time, he rekindled a relationship with Jenny von Westphalen, his childhood friend. Despite rumours of infidelity—including an alleged relationship with an older poetess—Jenny remained committed. They eventually married.
As editor, Karl published controversial articles challenging societal norms. He focused on injustices faced by the working class, whom he considered society’s true foundation. He criticised press censorship and condemned laws that criminalised peasants for collecting fallen wood. His bold stance led the Prussian government to ban the paper.
This forced Karl to relocate to Paris, then a hub for exiled radicals and fresh from revolution. There he began writing against capitalism, religion, and nationalism. It was in Paris that he met Friedrich Engels, who became his lifelong collaborator and supporter—emotionally and financially.
Paris offered Marx clarity of vision and a vital partnership. But under pressure from the Prussian government, he was expelled. He moved with Jenny and their newborn daughter to Brussels, where he wrote the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, early works discussing alienation and labour.
Despite surveillance, Engels often visited Brussels, and the two co-authored The Holy Family, a critique of German philosophers for ignoring material conditions. It was here that Marx delved deeply into British capitalism and began developing his economic theories.
Marx and Engels founded the Communist Correspondence Committee to link revolutionary movements across Europe. They also wrote The German Ideology, where Marx fully outlined historical materialism—the theory that material conditions shape social and political life.
Their influence drew scrutiny. Though Prussia pressured Belgium to expel Marx, it failed. He was invited to join the League of the Just, which he helped restructure into the Communist League. Its new slogan was:
“Workers of the world, unite.”
Commissioned to draft a political manifesto, Marx and Engels produced The Communist Manifesto, which opened with the now-iconic line:
“A spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of communism.”
It called on the working class to overthrow the bourgeoisie and establish a classless society. Though initially limited in reach, it made Marx a known figure among radicals.
Marx began organising Belgian workers, prompting his eventual expulsion. In Paris once more, communism found little traction. He returned to Cologne and launched another newspaper with Engels’ support, but it too was shut down as European revolutions were crushed.
Forced to flee across Europe with his family, Karl eventually found refuge in London, where political exiles were tolerated under surveillance. Living in a two-bedroom flat in Soho, the family often faced extreme poverty. One visitor described their home as a “cave of despair”.
Without money for medicine, Karl and Jenny lost their eight-year-old son, Edgar. Jenny once sold her coat so Karl could visit the library. Some have criticised this as selfish; others view it as a sign of devotion to a higher cause. Despite personal hardship, Marx spent endless hours in the British Museum’s reading room, studying the capitalist system.
After nearly two decades of research, he published Volume I of Das Kapital, his most important work. It analysed how profit stems from the exploitation of labour, why capitalism breeds inequality and crisis, and why it is ultimately self-destructive. Though not immediately popular, serious thinkers recognised its depth.
Marx helped establish the International Workingmen’s Association, a precursor to global socialist movements. Though it later dissolved, it cemented his status as a leading socialist thinker. Financial conditions improved slightly, but personal tragedy continued: four of his children died of illness.
The most devastating loss was that of Jenny, his green-eyed companion, who had given up privilege and stood by him through poverty and allegations. Her death left him broken. He never recovered.
When his maid, noticing his failing health, asked if he had any last words, he replied:
“Last words are for those who haven’t said enough during their lives.”
He retreated to his study. Later that day, Engels found him dead.
A modest funeral was held. Engels delivered a eulogy:
“His name will endure through the ages, and so will his work.”
These words proved true. Soon after his death, Marx’s ideas inspired revolutions across the world, fulfilling the dream of change he did not live to see.