Friedrich Beust Friedrich ( von ) Beust ( August 9 , 1817 – December 6 , 1899 ) , German soldier and political activist and Swiss reform pedagogue , was the son of Prussian Major Karl Alexander von Beust . Beust was born in the Odenwald , in whose great forests , as a young man , he observed Nature in her large and small aspects and collected her creatures . He learned to ride a horse in the royal stables . In 1834 , he became an ensign in the 17th Prussia n regiment . Under the guidance of a captain , he drew maps in his free time . He entered the division school at Düsseldorf where he was especially interested in geography , which students of Carl Ritter were teaching . He continued his studies of cartography and also science , especially anatomy . In 1845 , he was ordered to Fortress Minden , where he came to the conclusion he could not fit into Prussian military discipline , bitterly resigned in 1848 , and became a political activist . In 1848 he was delegate from the Cologne Workers ' Association to the Second Democratic Congress held in Berlin . At the Congress he spoke in favour of the " Demands of the Communist Party in Germany " which were written by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels . This was the Communist League ' s political programme for the revolution . Beust took over the operations of the republican " Neuen Kölnischen Zeitung " when the previous publisher , Friedrich Annecke , was arrested for reporting on the Frankfurt Democratic Congress . Despite the efforts of Annecke ' s wife , Mathilde Franziska ( " née " Giesler ) , the newspaper was suppressed . He got to know Ferdinand Freiligrath who was helping Frau Annecke put out the " Westfälischen Jahrbuch " , and who , anticipating the coming emigration which would be necessary , wrote him some letters of introduction to people in Paris . He also got to know the social democrat Karl Marx , who was putting out the " Neuer Rheinischer Zeitung " with Freiligrath . He took over the command of the Cologne militia , and when it interfered with the departure of Prussian troops to Düsseldorf to dissolve a regiment there , a state of siege — — was declared for Cologne and Beust ' s arrest was sought for high treason . At that point he emigrated to Paris . Later he was elected to the military commission for the Baden - Palatinate uprising . Beust soon saw that the chaotic leadership , among other things , would not allow the uprising to accomplish anything useful , and after the Ubstadt und Waghäusel battle , lost through ineptitude , he fled with a detachment across the Swiss border at Rheinfelden on June 15 . Beust settled in Zürich where he learned the trade of a pedagogue with the innovative teacher Meier while studying botany and chemistry at the university . He obtained an appointment at Karl ( nephew of the famous Friedrich ) Fröbel ' s school . Until 1850 another of the teachers at the school was Wilhelm Liebknecht , the Marxist founder of the Social Democratic Workers ' Party of Germany . At this point , he stopped using " von " when he gave his name , but he never formally renounced his claims to nobility . Seeing a return to Germany was out of the question , he joined A . Kirchner in the leadership of his establishment . In 1854 he married Anna Lipka a cousin of Friedrich Engels . Then he founded his own school , and for the rest of his life devoted all his resources to that , and became a Swiss citizen . The school taught 25 children , and was attended by children living in Zürich and those of well - situated families in Germany . Among them was Ferdinand Fröbel , a grandson of Theodor a brother of Karl Fröbel . Emilie Michaelis , a leader of the Fröbel movement in England said of the school that it was a , ' truly remarkable institution ' adding , after referring to Fröbel and Pestalozzi , that , ' this school stands alone in its complete fulfilment of these great educationists ' Beust remained active in socialist politics joining the International Workingmen ' s Association which became known as the First International in 1886 . In 1894 , Beust ' s son , Dr . Fritz von Beust ( 1856 - 1908 ) , took over its direction . Beust was especially interested in the teachings of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Fröbel on activities for children , and himself published works on early childhood education . When he died , he was one of the last of the “ 48ers ” living in exile .