Friedrich Engels
German philosopher and revolutionary socialist (1820–1895); co-wrote The Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx.
At a glance
Main ideas
Industry made workers worse off, A materialist conception of history, Dialectics of nature …
See all 5Books to start with
The Condition of the Working Class in England, The Communist Manifesto, Anti-Dühring …
See all 5Connections
Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto and The Condition of the Working Class in England
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Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Engels was a German philosopher, social and political theorist and revolutionary socialist.
- Sent by his father to work in Manchester in 1842, he wrote The Condition of the Working Class in England from what he saw there.
- From 1844 he worked with Karl Marx; together they wrote The Communist Manifesto and developed what became known as Marxism.
- For two decades he worked for the family cotton firm in Manchester and supported the Marx family with money.
- After Marx died in 1883 he edited his writings and completed the second and third volumes of Das Kapital.
Why it matters
- His own books, above all Anti-Dühring and Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, were how generations of socialists came to understand Marxism.
Key facts
- Born
- 28 Nov 1820, Barmen, Prussia (now part of Wuppertal, Germany)1
- Died
- 5 Aug 1895, London, of cancer; his ashes were scattered at sea off Beachy Head1
- Family firm
- Ermen & Engels, cotton thread; clerk at its Victoria Mill office in Salford from 1842, and in its Manchester office from 1850 to 18701
- Revolutions of 1848
- Took part, including in armed combat, before exile in England1
- London
- Moved there after retiring in 1870; took a central role in the International Workingmen's Association1
- Partner
- Mary Burns, an Irish factory worker, who died in January 1863; later her sister Lizzy1
Main ideas
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Industry made workers worse off2
His first book argued that industrial workers earned less and lived in unhealthier places than their pre-industrial peers.
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A materialist conception of history1
With Marx he worked against the idealist philosophies of the day, notably in The Holy Family and The German Ideology.
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Dialectics of nature1
He applied dialectics to the natural sciences; critics argue this hardened into a rigid "dialectical materialism", others call that a caricature.
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The origin of women's subordination1
The Origin of the Family tied the subordination of women to class society and private property, and their emancipation to entering social production.
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Not conquerors of nature1
In Dialectics of Nature he warned that humanity does not "rule over nature like a conqueror over a foreign people".
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
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The Condition of the Working Class in England1
His first major work, from his years in Manchester.
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Written with Marx for the Communist League.
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Anti-Dühring1
One of the books that popularised Marxism.
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Socialism: Utopian and Scientific1
A short introduction that became a foundational text of the Second International.
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The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State1
Class society and the subordination of women.
Connections
Links
Sources
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