Henriette Presburg

Henriette Marx ( Pressburg;; ; 20 September 1788 – 30 November 1863) was a Dutch-born woman who was the mother of the communist philosopher Karl Marx.

Life

Henriette Pressburg was born on 20 September 1788 in Nijmegen in the Netherlands. She was the second of the five children of Isaac Heymans Pressburg (; 1747–1832) and Nanette Salomons Cohen (; 1754–1833). living first in Nonnenstraat then, when Henriette was 19, in Grotestraat. Isaac was the cantor Her regular letters to Karl emphasised the importance of healthy living, she advised:

"you must never regard cleanliness and order as something secondary, for health and cheerfulness depend upon them. Insist strictly that your rooms are scrubbed frequently and fix a definite time for it – and you, my dear Karl, have a weekly scrub with sponge and soap."

Karl rarely seems to have replied to his family's letters or even visited them. The following year Karl married Jenny von Westphalen, neither Henriette, nor any other member of the Marx family, attending.

Over the years he complained repeatedly that his mother did not want to help him out of his financial distress, complaining to friends that while she lived he could not enjoy his inheritance. Henriette's view was that he should do more to earn money, commenting "if only Karl had made Capital, instead of just writing about it".

She did however pass funds to him from time to time, although things did not always go smoothly. In 1848, while Karl was living in Brussels, she paid him 6,000 francs. Suspecting that the funds might be intended to finance the revolutionary movement, the Belgian police asked the Trier authorities to question Henriette, they accepted her explanation that "her son had long been asking for money for his family and this was an advance on his inheritance".

Exiled from Germany during the 1850s, Karl again visited Germany in 1861. While there, he spent two days with Henriette in Trier, who agreed to cancel several of his older debts, although on his next short visit in August 1862 she refused to give him anything. This was the last time Henriette saw her son, as she died fifteen months later. Karl travelled to Trier for the funeral.

Sophie Pressburg and Lion Philips

In 1820 Henriette's younger sister Sophie Pressburg (1797–1854) married the tobacco merchant Lion Philips (1794–1866) in the Nijmegen synagogue, before moving to the Dutch town of Zaltbommel. After the death of their mother in June 1833, Henriette agreed that Lion Philips would act as trustee for their parents' legacy for the benefit of the whole family.

The Philips’ family got on well with Karl Marx, their nephew. He occasionally stayed with them in Zaltbommel, regularly corresponded with Lion Philips and often borrowed money against his legacy, particularly after he moved to London in 1849.

Lion and Sophie's son Frederik and grandson Gerard founded the Philips Electronics Company in 1891. Gerard's younger brother Anton joined the running of the company in 1912.

Of Henriette's brothers, David became a lawyer in Amsterdam and later in Paramaribo in Surinam and Martin remained in Nijmegen in the tobacco trade. She clearly remained more religious than her husband, telling friends "Yes, I believe in God, not for God's sake, but for my own." Indeed, she always felt something of a stranger in Trier, being both closely attached to her own family She admitted to having "excessive mother love", confirmed by Heinrich who wrote to their son Karl that "you know your mother and how anxious she is." while Sophie described her as "small and delicate, and very intelligent. After all, she was a good housekeeper, who knew how to manage her inheritance and left her children with a greater sum than she herself inherited. She handled money better than her famous son Karl Marx.’’

Later years Henriette Marx continued to live in Trier, where she died on 30 November 1863, aged 75. (On hearing the news of his mother's death, Karl commented "Fate laid claim to one of our family.) I myself already have one foot in the grave. Circumstances being what they were, I, presumably, was needed here more than my mother." She left her four surviving children substantial legacies, although much of Karl's share was paid to his uncle Lion Philips in settlement of his debts.