Friedrich Lessner

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Friedrich Christian Eduard Leßner (pseudonym Carstens ) (born February 27, 1825 in Blankenhain , † February 1, 1910 in London ) was a German socialist politician. He was one of the earliest supporters of Karl Marx and was, among other things, active in the League of Communists and the International Workers' Association .

Life

The father was a sergeant, the mother was a laundress. He himself had been married to Sarah (born 1840), an Englishwoman, since 1858, and his second marriage from 1869 to Marie Breitenbach (born 1844).

The youth were marked by poverty and hardship. He learned the craft of tailoring in Weimar and then went on his journeyman hike . In Hamburg he came into contact with the local workers' education association . During this time, they particularly influenced the idea of Wilhelm Weitling . To avoid military service, he fled to London. There he was initially a member of the League of the Just and later belonged to the League of Communists. During this time he got to know Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels . He broke away from Weitling and became a staunch supporter of Marx. He later reported that he was responsible for the printing technology for the publication of the Communist Manifesto .

He returned to Germany and was an active participant in the revolution of 1848/49 . He propagated the ideas of the League of Communists, worked on the Neue Rheinische Zeitung and played an important role in the Cologne workers' association. In 1849, Leßner gave the funeral speech for the poor doctor Andreas Gottschalk from Cologne . He founded the Wiesbaden - Mainz workers' association and became its president. He was arrested in 1851 and in Cologne Communist trial of 1852 to three years imprisonment convicted.

In 1856 he emigrated to England. There he became a leading member of the London Workers' Education Association. He had a close friendship with Marx and Engels. In London in 1864 he became a member of the General Council of the International Workers' Association. He was a member of this until 1872. He participated in the International Conferences of the IAA between 1865 and 1872. Within the organization, he clearly represented Marx's position in the disputes between Mikhail Alexandrowitsch Bakunin and Marx.

On September 18, 1867, Karl Marx gave Leßner Das Kapital with the dedication: "To his friend F. Lessner / Lond. September 18, 1867 Karl Marx".

In the 1880s and 1890s he was particularly involved in the English labor movement. In 1893 he was a co-founder of the Independent Labor Party . During the revisionist dispute within the German social democracy, he stood on the side of an orthodox Marxism and rejected the ideas of Eduard Bernstein . In the German social democracy he became a symbol of the “old guard” of the movement from around the 1890s. The party financially supported Lessner, who throughout his life lived mainly on a low income as a tailor. He took part several times as a guest of honor at social democratic party conferences or congresses of the Second International .

In 1962, a school in Blankenhain was named after him during the GDR. There is also a memorial stone in his hometown.

estate

The originals of his estate are in Moscow . In the Archives of Social Democracy in Bonn a microfilm copy exists. The collection covers the period from 1853. This includes, among other things, the correspondence with Johann Philipp Becker , Friedrich Engels and Julius Motteler . There are also diaries; Notes, drafts and collections of materials for articles and speeches.

Fonts

  • A worker's memories of Karl Marx. On the ten-year anniversary of his death, March 14, 1893 . In: The new time . Review of intellectual and public life. 11th year, 1892-1893, 1st volume (1893), issue 24, pp. 748-754
  • Skilled and unskilled workers In: The new time . Review of intellectual and public life. 13th vol., 1894-1895, 2nd volume (1895), issue 31, pp. 149-154
  • From the time when the communist manifesto was created . In: Socialist monthly books , Berlin 1897, issue 10
  • Fifty years ago . In: Mainzer Volkszeitung from October 27, 1900
  • Memories of a worker at Friedrich Engels In: Die Hütte, Leipzig, Second December issue 1902, issue 18, pp. 538-541
  • Sixty years in the social-democratic movement. Before 1848 and after. Recollections of an old communist . The Twentieth Century Press, London 1907 (Reprint Slienger, London 1970)
  • I took the "Communist Manifesto" to the printer . Compiled and introduced by Ursula Herrmann and Gerhard Winkler. Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1975.

literature

  • Franz Mehring : Friedrich Lessner . In: The New Time . Weekly of the German Social Democracy. 23Jg., 1904-1905, 1st volume (1905), issue 21, pp. 677-679
  • Franz Mehring: A German worker . In: Leipziger Volkszeitung. No. 487 of February 27, 1905
  • Mohr and General. Memories of Marx and Engels . Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1964, pp. 180-195 and 458-474
  • Irma Sinelnikowa: Friedrich Lessner . In: Marx and Engels and the first proletarian revolutionaries . Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1965, pp. 120-160
  • Karl-Ulrich Tetzlaff: Friedrich Lessner - the comrade of Karl Marx . In: Contributions to the history of Thuringia, Erfurt 1968, pp. 9–21
  • Richard Sperl: A soldier of the revolution. From the life of Friedrich Lessner, a comrade in arms of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels . In: Neues Deutschland March 31, 1973, p. 15
  • Karl-Ulrich Tetzlaff: Friedrich Lessner. A comrade in arms of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. on the occasion of his 150th birthday . Druckhaus Weimar 1975 (Weimar writings on local history and natural history published by the Weimar City Museum, issue 27/1975)
  • Irma Sinelnikowa: Friedrich Lessner. A biography of the communist and friend of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels . Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1980
  • Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels Complete Edition (MEGA): Department 1: Works, Articles, Drafts Volume 25: Works, Articles, Drafts, May 1875 to May 1883. Berlin 1985, ISBN 978-3-05-003362-4 , p. 1268 f.
  • Eberhard Flessing: Lessner  , Friedrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-428-00195-8 , p. 353 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Baptismal register of the Evangelical Church in Blankenhain 1825, p. 47, No. 4
  2. ^ England and Wales Census 1861 and England and Wales Census 1881
  3. ↑ Brief history of the Weimar SPD ( Memento of the original from January 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / spdnet.sozi.info
  4. ↑ Unknown from Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx. Part 1: 1840-1874. Edited by Bert Andréas Jacques Grandjonc Hans Pelger, Trier 1986, p. 85 ff. (Writings from the Karl-Marx-Haus No. 33)
  5. ↑ Lessner's estate
personal data
SURNAME Lessner, Friedrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lessner, Friedrich Christian Eduard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION socialist politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH Blankenhain
DATE OF DEATH February 1, 1910
Place of death London