Destitute Economist

Karl Marx (1818 - 83), who revolutionised thinking about money more than anyone else who has ever lived, was hopeless at acquiring it himself. Shortly after arriving on London as a political exile from Europe in 1849, Marx and his family were evicted from their rooms in Chelsea for non-payment of rent , losing moat of their possessions in the process. From 1851 to 1856, the Marx family rented rooms in Soho, living in such poverty that two of their children died. Although Marx worked as a journalist for “The New York Daily Tribune”, he was unable to earn enough to feed his family. They were saved from starvation only by the generosity of Marx’s friend, Friedrich Engels, who gave Marx part of his income. After inheriting £120 from his wife’s mother in 1856, Marx moved his family to Kentish Town, North London, were he wrote most of the basic material for “Das Kapital”, the first volume of which was published in 1867.