Ferdinand Lassalle

Ferdinand Lassalle (11 April 1825 — 31 August 1864) was a German jurist and socialist politician.

Lassalle was born in Breslau. His father sent him to a business school in Leipzig. Lassalle changed to the University of Breslau. He later studied in Berlin.
He studied Philosophy, Philology (Latin and Ancient Greek) and Law.

Lassalle took part in the revolutions of 1848-49. He was put into prison and later banned from Berlin. He lived in Düsseldorf that time. In 1859, Lassalle returned to Berlin.

Lassalle was a liberal politician in the early 1860s. The liberals had some struggles with Otto von Bismarck. Lassalle thought about the living conditions of the working class. He found that the idea of self-help would not help the working-class people. This led him to become a member of the Communist league. He was in opposition to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels because of his different ideas on how the people should bring socialism. 

Lassalle founded the Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein (General German Workers' Association, ADAV) in 1863. This party later became the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

Lassalle was killed in a duel.

Category:1825 births
Category:1864 deaths
Category:Politicians of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
Category:German prisoners
Category:People from former German territories
Category:People from Wrocław
Category:Duels