Why is Marx More Well Known than Engels

[Ocean Seal]

Marx seems to get communism all to himself whereas Engels at least in the general public often gets named as that guy who worked with Marx. Why? They both wrote the great texts together? So why does Marx get the spotlight and not Engels.

[Catmatic Leftist]

You gotta admit, Marx's beard is stylin'.

[RedAnarchist]

It may very well have just been that Marxism sounded better than Engelsism, or Marxist-Englesism. Marx himself never called himself a Marxist, and disliked the term. One of the people who claimed to have coined the term was his son-in-law, so that might be a reason why it is Marxism and not Englesism.

[Zealot]

This view of the relationship between Marx and Engels was apparently put forth by Engels himself.

Marx died before he could put the final touches to his vast work on capital. The draft, however, was already finished, and after the death of his friend, Engels undertook the onerous task of preparing and publishing the second and the third volumes of Capital. He published Volume II in 1885 and Volume III in 1894 (his death prevented the preparation of Volume IV). These two volumes entailed a vast amount of labour. Adler, the Austrian Social-Democrat, has rightly remarked that by publishing volumes II and III of Capital Engels erected a majestic monument to the genius who had been his friend, a monument on which, without intending it, he indelibly carved his own name. Indeed, these two volumes of Capital are the work of two men: Marx and Engels. Old legends contain various moving instances of friendship. The European proletariat may say that its science was created by two scholars and fighters, whose relationship to each other surpasses the most moving stories of the ancients about human friendship. Engels always – and, on the whole, quite justly – placed himself after Marx. “In Marx’s lifetime,” he wrote to an old friend, “I played second fiddle.”His love for the living Marx, and his reverence for the memory of the dead Marx were boundless. This stern fighter and austere thinker possessed a deeply loving soul. -LeninNot sure where Lenin pulled that last quote from but, in any case, they were both great men. I disagree about Marx getting all the spotlight, maybe for bourgeois historians, but any Communist worth his name would respect the works of Engels.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

I would attribute it to his written works (though Engles helped the credit was given to Marx).

[Tablo]

I think most socialists with any knowledge fully recognize Engels alongside Marx. I myself tend to prefer Engels writings over Marx's. I guess random people might not be fully aware of Engels.

[Nox]

Probably because it ended up being called Marxism.

They don't teach about it in schools, so most people just assume it was just Marx.

[Tim Cornelis]

Marx wrote Capital...?

[The Man]

It's kind of sad to be honest. In reality, Karl Marx wouldn't of lasted more than a week without Friedrich Engels.... Literally.. He seriously would have died of starvation in his underwear.

[Catmatic Leftist]

I think because Marx's name is usually mentioned before Engels, that people assume that he played Second Fiddle.

That, and the sexy beard.

[manic expression]

a.) IIRC, Marx wrote most of the Manifesto...at least that's what Engels writes in the introduction of the 1880-something edition.

b.) Marx was more outspoken in political circles, I think.

c.) "Marxism" sounds way better than "Engelsism".

But still, within the movement I think Engels definitely gets due respect, especially from people who know their stuff.