August Hermann Ewerbeck (12 November 1816 – 4 November 1860), known by his middle name of Hermann, was a pioneer socialist political activist, writer, and translator. A physician by vocation and a German by birth, Ewerbeck is best remembered as an early political associate of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.utopian socialist organization,

League of the Just The League of the Just () or League of Justice was a masonic international revolutionary organization. It was founded in 1836 by branching off from its ancestor, the , which had formed in Paris in 1834. The League of the Just was largely compos ...

, and as the translator of the French writings of

Étienne Cabet Étienne Cabet (; January 1, 1788 – November 9, 1856) was a philosopher and utopian socialist who founded the Icarian movement. Cabet became the most popular socialist advocate of his day, with a special appeal to artisans who were being under ...

and

Ludwig Feuerbach Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach (; ; 28 July 1804 – 13 September 1872) was a German anthropologist and philosopher, best known for his book '' The Essence of Christianity'', which provided a critique of Christianity that strongly influenced ge ...

into German.

Biography

Early years

Hermann Ewerbeck, was born in 1816 in Danzig,

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, and graduated from the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, a ...

. Ewerbeck's dissertation, written in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and accepted in 1839, was entitled ''De phaenomenis opticis subjectivis'' (Subjective Phenomena of Optics).

Political career

Ewerbeck was among the earliest political acquaintances of Karl Marx and Friederich Engels and is mentioned twice by name in the oldest piece of surviving correspondence between the duo, a letter written to Marx in Paris early in October 1844. Ewerbeck joined the Paris chapter of the

(Bund der Gerechten), a utopian socialist organization, and soon became a leading member. In 1847 it was he who translated Étienne Cabet's influential socialist novel ''Voyage en Icarie'' from French into German under the pen name "Dr. Wendell Hippler." In August 1846, Ewerbeck introduced Engels to a small group of Parisian cabinetmakers and tanners who supported the revolutionary movement. Engels was initially smitten by Ewerbeck, characterizing him as "very cheerful, completely tractable, more receptive than ever" and opined to Marx that "he and I will come to see pretty well eye to eye in all things." This was not to be, however, as Engels soon developed an aversion to Ewerbeck's ideas, declaring "it is disgraceful that one should have to pit oneself against such barbaric nonsense."Francis Wheen
''Karl Marx: A Life.''
New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001; pp. 109-110. Engels specifically objected to Ewerbeck's interest in the ideas of

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, ; ; 1809 – 19 January 1865) was a French anarchist, socialist, philosopher, and economist who founded mutualist philosophy and is considered by many to be the "father of anarchism". He was the first person to ca ...

and Anastasius Grün. Ewerbeck was also the author of ''German Philosophy and Socialism''. When the League of the Just was dissolved into the Communist League, Ewerbeck thereby became a member of that organization. Ewerbeck was part of a group including

Moses Hess Moses (Moritz) Hess (21 January 1812 – 6 April 1875) was a German-Jewish philosopher, early socialist and Zionist thinker. His theories led to disagreements with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. He is considered a pioneer of Labor Zionism. Bi ...

and Karl Ludwig Johann D'Ester that tried to get Marx to abandon Engels. According to Oscar J. Hammen, Engels had "wounded the sensibilities of other Communists because he was likely to act as the hatchet-man for Marx. As a result he was sometimes impetuous, brusque and even brutal." Their efforts to divide Marx and Engels were not successful. In a letter to Engels, Marx wrote, "That I would leave you in the lurch even for a moment is pure fantasy. You remain my intimate friend as I remain yours, let us hope." Ewerbeck was one of the Paris reporters of the ''

Neue Rheinische Zeitung The ''Neue Rheinische Zeitung: Organ der Demokratie'' ("New Rhenish Newspaper: Organ of Democracy") was a German daily newspaper, published by Karl Marx in Cologne between 1 June 1848 and 19 May 1849. It is recognised by historians as one of the ...

''.

Death and legacy

Hermann Ewerbeck left the Communist League in 1850.Valentina Kholopova, "August Hermann Ewerbeck," ''Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: Collected Works, Volume 10.'' New York: International Publishers, 1978, pg. 718. Ewerbeck ton Marx in London, 25. January 1850, in: ''Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe''. Abt. III. Vol. 3. Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1981, p. 459 an Ewerbeck to Marx in London, 21.April 1852, in: ''Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe''. Abt. III Vol. 5,Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1987, p. 328. He died on 4 November 1860 in Paris.Wolfgang Mönke: ''Ewerbeck, Hermann August''. In: ''Biographisches Lexikon zur Deutschen Geschichte''. Berlin 1967, p. 113-114.

Footnotes

Works

Books

* ''Wie ich Communist bin, und mein communistisches Glaubensbekenntniss'' (Why I am a Communist, and My Communist Faith). Paris: 1847. * ''Qu'est-ce que la Bible: d'après la nouvelle philosophie Allemande'' (What Is the Bible According to the New German Philosophy?) Editor. Paris: 1850. * ''L'Allemagne et les Allemands'' (Germany and the Germans). Paris: Garnier fréres, 1851. * ''Les langues de l'Europe moderne'' (The Languages of Modern Europe). With August Schleicher. Paris: Ladrange, 1852. * ''La Russie et l'équilibre européen'' (Russia and the European Balance). Paris: 1854.

Translations

* Étienne Cabet, ''Reise nach Ikarien'' (Voyage of Icarie). Paris: 1847. * Ludwig Feuerbach, ''Qu'est-ce que la religion? D'après la nouvelle philosophie allemande'' (What Is Religion? According to the New German Philosophy). Paris: Ladrange, 1850.