Lesser Spotted Comrades - Eleanor Marx
by Samantha O’Brien
Eleanor Marx, youngest daughter of Karl Marx and Jenny Von Westphalen, was born 16 January 1855 in London. A forerunner of socialist feminism, leading trade unionist activist, and internationalist. Eleanor grew up around radicals in an age of collectivism and internationalism, which deeply influenced and shaped her life as a political agitator and organiser.
As a baby, Eleanor was affectionately known as Tussy by her family, which stuck with her throughout her life. The Marx family lived in poverty but were rich in literature, storytelling and imagination as their library was filled with books like the Brothers Grimm, Shakespeare, and volumes of poetry of Goethe, Shelley and Blake. Marx and Eleanor had a special bond, and as Marx would say “Tussy is me”. Eleanor was a lover of Shakespeare, cats and poetry, and her favourite motto was “Go Ahead”. Eleanor did not receive any formal education but was homeschooled by Marx while he was writing Capital. As Rachel Holmes eloquently puts it “To say that Eleanor Marx grew up living and breathing historical materialism and socialism is therefore a literal description and not a metaphor”.[1]
As a teenager, Eleanor became Marx’s secretary and research assistant. She was one of the few people besides Engels and her mother that could decipher his handwriting. At just sixteen, the Paris Commune in 1871 had a profound impact on Eleanor. For two months there was a real workers’ democracy. Eleanor was inspired by the central role women played and the importance of a united struggle between working-class men and women. The Commune was crushed by the French government. Eleanor was visiting her sister Laura in France at the time, as her brother-in-law was missing. She was arrested and interrogated over three days. On her return to England, she threw herself into the cause and organised support for refugees. Eleanor’s first serious relationship was with Prosper-Olivier Lissagaray, a refugee who participated in the Paris Commune and fled to England. Eleanor became Lissagaray’s main researcher and translator for his book History of the Paris Commune.[2]
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Eleanor took on the burden of caring responsibilities for her family despite yearning to strike out on her own. It wasn't until the death of her parents and elder sister that she was able to move forwards, organising in labour movements, speaking at demonstrations and becoming highly influential in the socialist movement. After Marx’s death, she played a pivotal role in organizing her father’s notes and translations of his work. She also became involved with Edward Aveling, fellow socialist and known womanizer.
In 1884 Eleanor joined the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) in the UK and was elected onto the Executive, believing it was crucial to bringing socialist ideas to the mass movement. She eventually left over differences with H. M. Hyndman who was known for being a nationalist and anti-Semitic. She then set up the Socialist League with William Morris and contributed to their newspaper, Commonweal, overseeing the section ’Record of the International movement’.
In 1886 Eleanor published 'The Woman Question' [3] with Aveling, which contributed to debates around women’s liberation and its connection to capitalism. The same year, Eleanor went on a speaking tour in the United States, producing the pamphlet 'The Working Class Movement in America'.[4]
Eleanor played a central role organising union activities during the dockers’ strike in 1889. She spoke to a crowd of 100,000 at a demonstration in Hyde Park in support of the strike and was a founder of the women’s branch of the Gas Workers and General Labourers Union. During the Jewish tailors’ strike, she learned Yiddish to speak to workers and identified as a Jew at public meetings.
A great orator and organiser, one of Eleanor's most famous speeches was her May Day speech in 1890, about the eight-hour day and the need to move beyond limited reforms. “Socialists believe that the eight hours day is the first and most immediate step to be taken, and we aim at a time when there will no longer be one class supporting two others, but the unemployed both at the top and at the bottom of society will be got rid of”.
When Eleanor discovered Aveling had betrayed her and married a young actress in secret, her spirit was broken. She died of chloroform and prussic acid poisoning at the age of 43 with allegedly two suicide notes at her side. Aveling was the main benefactor of her estate and passed away four months after her death.
There was great hardship in Eleanor’s life, but a lot to be celebrated. As her friend and socialist Will Thorne commented “But for this tragedy, I believe Eleanor would have still been living, and would have been a greater women’s leader than the greatest of contemporary women.”[5]
Notes
Holmes, Rachel. Eleanor Marx: A Life. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2015.
Brown, Siobhan. A Rebel’s Guide to Elanor Marx. Bookmarks Publications, 2015.
Eleanor Marx Aveling and Edward Aveling, ‘The Woman Question, 1886.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/eleanor-marx/works/womanq.htmEleanor Marx Aveling and Edward Aveling, 1891.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/eleanor-marx/works/wcia.htmKapp, Yvonne. Eleanor Marx: A Biography. Verso Books, 2018 (p,884).