Vietnamese Party General Secretary pays tribute to proletariat leader Karl Marx in London

Philosopher Karl Marx was born in 1818 in Germany and settled in London in 1849, where he lived until his death in 1883. He was an outstanding leader of the working class, the labouring people, oppressed nations, and progressive humanity as a whole.

Karl Marx was originally buried at a modest location on a small side path in the cemetery. Then, in 1954, his body and those of his family members were moved to the same area and placed under a larger memorial, which was inaugurated in 1956.

Since then, many people who have been inspired by his thinking have been buried nearby – among them Yusuf Dadoo, the South African communist and anti-apartheid activist, and Claudia Jones, political activist and founder of the Notting Hill Carnival. Ironically his ideological antithesis, the liberal political theorist Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), is buried almost directly opposite.

The grave is not only the resting place of Karl Marx but also has a strong symbolic meaning. Many Marxists, scholars and international tourists come here as a spiritual pilgrimage to remember the author of ideas that have had a profound influence on world politics and society.