FATHER OF COMMUNISM
A NEW MARX BIOGRAPHY
The Red Prussian: Karl Marx. By by Leopold Schwarzschild. Hamish Hamilton. 20s. Marx’s latest biographer claims that only now, three-quarters of a century after the subject was at the apex of his career, can a proper evaluation be made of his works, basing this assertion on the ancient truism that a tree is known by its fruit. From this point the author proceeds to expatiate on the manner in which Marx almost drifted, after an indolent adolescence, into becoming, with Friedrich Engels, a vociferous pioneer of Communism, though the name was coined by neither of them. Marx is depicted as a person of little genius and still less energy in his early manhood. He was a spendthrift, a conscienceless despoiler of his
father’s limited means and a confirmed procrastinator. Shortly after his marriage he secured money from his wife’s relations, and for the rest of his life was content to live on money supplied by the disciples of his ultra-socialistic creed. In later years, though obsessed by broils, he showed remarkable energy in expounding his theories and still more in scourging those of his erstwhile companions who dared to differ from him. He was at all times animated by a lust for power. The Communism propounded in Marx’s day was usually labelled Socialism, but its objective was the same—its establishment in control of nations by revolutionary force. There were no half measures in those times, and there was little or no attempt to disguise the true objective. Mr Schwarzschild is a severe critic, but not merely a captious one. He confirms his assertions concerning Marx’s weaknesses and other unlovable qualities with a wealth of annotation the authenticity of which cannot be disputed. In fact, an important part of the general condemnation is supplied in Marx’s own letters to Engels, only a selected few of which have been available to earlier biographers. E. C. C.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19480519.2.11
Bibliographic details
Otago Daily Times, Issue 26775, 19 May 1948, Page 2
Word Count
321FATHER OF COMMUNISM Otago Daily Times, Issue 26775, 19 May 1948, Page 2
Using This Item
Allied Press Ltd is the copyright owner for the Otago Daily Times. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Allied Press Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.