Karl Marx

            Karl Heinrich Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in the city of Trier in .
             He was one of seven children of Jewish .
             Parents. His father was fairly liberal, taking part in demonstrations .
             for a constitution for Prussia and reading such authors as Voltaire .
             and Kant, known for their social commentary. His mother, Henrietta, .
             was originally from Holland and never became a German at heart, not .
             even learning to speak the language properly. Shortly before Karl .
             Marx was born, his father converted the family to the Evangelical .
             Established Church, Karl being baptized at the age of six.
             Marx attended high school in his home town (1830-1835) where several .
             teachers and pupils were under suspicion of harboring liberal ideals.
             Marx himself seemed to be a devoted Christian with a "longing for .
             self-sacrifice on behalf of humanity." In October of 1835, he started .
             attendance at the University of Bonn, enrolling in .
             non-socialistic-related classes like Greek and Roman mythology and the .
             history of art. During this time, he spent a day in jail for being .
             "drunk and disorderly-the only imprisonment he suffered" in the .
             course of his life. The student culture at Bonn included, as a major .
             part, being politically rebellious and Marx was involved, presiding .
             over the Tavern Club and joining a club for poets that included some .
             politically active students. However, he left Bonn after a year and .
             enrolled at the University of Berlin to study law and philosophy.
             Marx's experience in Berlin was crucial to his introduction to Hegel's .
             philosophy and to his "adherence to the Young Hegelians." Hegel's .
             philosophy was crucial to the development of his own ideas and .
             theories. Upon his first introduction to Hegel's beliefs, Marx felt a .
             repugnance and wrote his father that when he felt sick, it was .
             partially "from intense vexation at having to make an idol of a view .
             [he] detested." The Hegelian doctrines exerted considerable pressure .