ENGELS, Friedrich (1820-1895):
German industrialist who became patron, close friend and
collaborator to Karl MARX in founding MARXISM. Engels contributed many ideas to the
Marxist movement including what was to become known as DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM. From 1842
he ran his family's factory in Manchester, England where he was also a rapacious landlord.
While in Manchester he wrote The Condition of the Working Class in England
(1845), supposedly based on his own experiences but actually written from outdated Poor
Law Reports. This work is full of factual errors and deliberate attempts to
exaggerate the true situation. As a militant ATHEIST, he welcomed DARWIN'S theory of
EVOLUTION as positive proof of his own anti-religious views.
