Lessner, Friedrich

Lessner, Friedrich 

Born Feb. 27, 1825, in Blankenhain, near Weimar; died Feb. 1, 1910, in London (?). Figure in the German and international labor movement; friend of Marx and Engels.

Lessner was a tailor by profession. He was a member of the League of Communists and took part in the Revolution of 1848–49 in Germany. During the Cologne trial of Communists in 1852, he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a fortress. After he was freed, he emigrated to London. In the 1860’s, he participated in the work of the First International and was a member of its General Council, as well as a delegate to many congresses. He consistently defended the line of Marx and Engels. Lessner was active in the English labor movement. He welcomed the Revolution of 1905–07 in Russia. He was the author of memoirs of meetings with Marx and Engels that have been translated into Russian in the book Reminiscences About Marx and Engels (1956).

REFERENCES

Sinel’nikova, I. “F. Lessner.” In the collection Marks i Engel’s i pervye proletarskie revoliutsionery. Moscow, 1961.