While
rearranging my books today , I came
across a small booklet Titled
“Reminiscences of Marx ” . The
booklet has interesting articles on personal life of Karl Marx by Paul Lafargue
(1842-1911 ) and Wilhelm Liebknecht( 1826-1900 ) .Paul was one of the founders
of French socialist party while Wilhelm was a leader and founder of German socialist party .some
interesting anecdotes from the booklet are as under :-
(1)
To his friends and family karl
Marx was fondly known as Moor . And Moor was a heavy smoker who loved his Cigars .His
room would always be full of jars with tobacco , cigars and match boxes .While he was
writing DAS KAPITAL, he would tell his friends “ Look ! This book is not going
to bring in any money to pay for my Cigars ” . He was quite spendthrift in use
of his match boxes . He would use three
to four match boxes per day to light his cigars .
(2)
In his study room he had kept
photographs of his wife , daughters and Frederick Engels ( His friend and life
long companion ).Frederick Engels was Marx’s Alter Ego.The room had
books and papers kept in disorderly
position . The visitors were surprised as to how Marx could locate his papers or manuscripts in this
disorder .But this disorder was apparent
. And even while conversing , He would often stop to show a relevant passage or
figure in the book itself. To visitors
he would often say “ These books are my slaves and must serve my will
”.He had scant respect for format ,
binding and the quality of paper or printing of these books .He would turn down
the corners ,underline passages and cover the margins with pencil marks .He had
a habit of coming to these underlined passages and turned down pages again in
order to refresh his memory which was extraordinarily vigorous and accurate .
(3)
Marx knew almost all the European languages
including Russian .This talent he passed
on to his daughters as well. He read Pushkin , Gogol and schedrin in original
Russian .He had even started learning Arabic and Turkish . He
would often say “ A foreign language is a weapon in the struggle of life .” He would spend good time in Reading poetry .Dante
and Burns were his favourite poets . In fact he kept reading poets constantly
selecting them from all the European
literature . He read Aeschylus in original Greek. He read Novels as well and his Book shelf had books
of Paul De Kock, Charles Lever ,Dumas , Walter scott , Cervantes and Balzac . All
these books had passages underlined and corners folded .He knew much of Shakespeare and Goethe by heart .Quite often he would recite poems
to his daughters .
(4)
Besides reading literature , Marx
had another means of mental relaxation, Viz, Mathematics , of which he was
exceedingly fond . Algebra gave him much needed relaxation . He would often
immerse himself in this subject for relaxation. He would often say “
Mathematics is the soul of science ” He ALSO
wrote a scholarly and widely acclaimed paper titled ‘INFINITESIMAL CALCULUS’
(5)
He would sleep very late often
around 2 AM or 3 AM. and would get up by
9 AM. After a cup of black coffee and reading his news paper , he would go to
his study and get busy till 2 AM or 3 AM of next day breaking only for his
meals and a walk . The only physical
exercise he took regularly was his walking. In the course of the day he would
also sleep for just one hour on a sofa lying in his study. Sometimes he would
forget even his meals and had to be summoned again and again by his daughters
and wife to the dining room . He would eat his food hurriedly. He was a
very poor eater. He would often say “ Thinking is a great food .Even the
criminal thought of a scoundrel is grander and more sublime than the wonders of
the heavens ”
( 6)
Marx’s Saturdays and Sunday evenings were
meant for the family. On these days Marx was a delightful companion to his
friends and family. On both days , he was a loving father , a caring friend who would be seen sparkling with wit and
bubbling with humour , one who enjoyed a hearty laugh . His daughters loved him
ardently and so did his wife and Engels
. To his daughters he was a playmate who nicknamed him as MOOR .He would spend hours
with his daughters making paper boats for them and then play a sea war while burning all these
paper boats .The girls would not allow him to work on Sunday and quite often on Saturdays as well. The family
would go on long walks with Tiffin
and the girls would keep listening
lengthy stories from their father which he invented with his rich imagination. He enjoyed
becoming a horse for the girls to ride
on his back .
(7)
Marx demonstrated Noticeable moral conduct in his personal life. He always
encouraged and appreciated people with ideas .Envy , jealousy and vanity were
unknown to him..He had a deadly hatred for meanness and artificial renown . He expressed his opinions without any
reservations and any one who came close to him was influenced with his truthfulness. Throughout his life ,
Frau Marx remained his sole
companion in truest and fullest sense of the word. They had known each other
since childhood and had grown up together .Marx was only seventeen years old
when they were betrothed .Frau had a royal lineage . Her brother was a minister
to the king of Prussia and going by
these standards , Frau had married a commoner .She was a woman of
exceptional courage and patience and humility .Many factory workers in their working clothes would visit Marx family and all of them would
enjoy Frau’s hospitality . She would personally serve them tea
and food . She had a serene and cheerful
temperament .
Marx and his wife were greatly
attached to each other .Her beauty had been his joy and pride ;her gentleness
and devotion had made it easier for him to bear the misery inseparable from his troubled life as a revolutionary
socialist .The suffering which brought Frau to grave also shortened the
life of her husband .During her long and painful illness , Marx was worn out
mentally by distress and physically by sleeplessness and lack of fresh air that
he was used to during his daily walks . These were the predisposing causes of
the fatal Pneumonia that he contracted. Frau faced death like a courageous
woman . When she felt it was close at hand ,she said “ Karl , My strength is
broken ” Frau often called Marx as “ My
Big Child .”
The family had another member
named Helene who was a maid who remained a lifelong companion to Frau. Frau
treated her like another daughter. Marx and Frau treated her with respect and
dignity . Marx even played chess with her .The girls were very much attached to
Helene and loved her immensely. The girls called her Lenchen. Helene also
returned this love. Any visitor to this family was drawn to motherly love that
Helene demonstrated .Quite often Marx would obey Helene like a little child and rush
down for his meals from his study.
Marx’s family grave is situated
in High Gate
Cemetery in North
London . Not all members of the family are buried over here .
“ HERE LIES KARL MARX AND HIS FAMILY …
Jenny Von ( Frau Marx ), Karl
Marx , Harry Longuet ( Their Grandson ) and the devoted Helene Demuth ( Lenchen
)…..”
I CONCLUDE THIS POST WITH SOME
LINES FROM A LONG URDU POEM OF ALI
SARDAR JAFRI..
sadh kaafila pinhaa hai ,
sadh kaafila paidaa hai ,
awaaze jaras lekin
Iss dasht mein tanhaa hai ,
Sadiyon se issi soorat ,
Hai hukme safar jaari ,
Farmaane sitam jaari ,
Elaan e karam jaari .......
So Long so much………………..
( Autar Mota )
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
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