Jenny von Westphalen

Jenny von Westphalen was born in 1814 in a small town in northern Germany to a noble family. Her father was a civil servant and her mother was from a middle-class background. She had a brother, Edgar, who was a friend of Karl Marx. She also had a half-brother, Ferdinand, who became a conservative minister in Prussia. Jenny met Karl Marx when they were children and they became close friends. They shared a love of literature and philosophy. They secretly got engaged in 1836, when Jenny was 22 and Karl was 18. They faced opposition from their families and society because of their different social status and political views. They married in 1843, after Karl finished his doctoral studies. Jenny followed Karl to Paris, Brussels, Cologne and London, where they lived in poverty and exile. She supported his work as a writer and activist for the socialist cause. She also wrote articles, letters and memoirs about their life and struggles. She was involved in the Communist League and the International Workingmen's Association. She endured many hardships, such as the death of four of their seven children, the persecution by the authorities, the betrayal by friends and the lack of money. Jenny died in 1881 from liver cancer, a year before Karl. She was buried at Highgate Cemetery in London, where Karl joined her later. She was remembered as a loyal companion, a devoted mother, a brilliant mind and a courageous fighter for the emancipation of the working class.