Friedrich Engels

Friedrich Engels (English /ˈɛŋɡəlz/ or /ˈɛŋəlz/;German: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈɛŋəls]; 28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895) was a German philosopher, social scientist, journalist and businessman. He founded Marxist theory together with Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research in Manchester.

In 1848 he co-authored The Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx, though he also authored and co-authored (primarily with Marx) many other works, and later he supported Marx financially to do research and write Das Kapital. After Marx's death, Engels edited the second and third volumes. Additionally, Engels organised Marx's notes on the "Theories of Surplus Value," which he later published as the "fourth volume" of Capital. He has also made contributions to family economics.

Biography

Early years

Friedrich Engels was born on 28 November 1820 in Barmen, Prussia (now Wuppertal, Germany). Barmen was an expanding industrial metropolis, and Friedrich was the eldest son of a wealthy German cotton textile manufacturer. His father, Friedrich, Sr., was a Pietistic Protestant, and Engels was raised accordingly. As he grew up, however, he developed atheistic beliefs and his relationship with his parents became strained. His mother wrote to him of her concerns: She said that he had "really gone too far" and "begged" him "to proceed no further." She continued: