Robert Blum

Blum, Robert 

Born Nov. 10, 1807, in Cologne; died Nov. 9, 1848, in Vienna. German petit-bourgeois democrat; publicist. Born into the family of a worker-apprentice.

At the start of the Revolution of 1848–49, Blum was a recognized leader of the democrats of Saxony. In 1848 he founded the democratic Fatherland Association (more than 40,000 members) in Leipzig. He was elected a deputy to the Frankfurt National Assembly, and was one of the leaders of its left wing. In October 1848 he led a deputation of the Frankfurt left to insurgent Vienna. He took part in the armed struggle in the ranks of the Academic Legion. After Vienna fell, Blum was shot. As K. Marx observed, Blum was “one of the martyrs of the German revolution” (K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 14, p. 117).

WORKS

Ausgewählte Reden und Schriften, vols. 1–10. Leipzig, 1879–81.

REFERENCES

Engels, F. “Revoliutsiia i kontrrevoliutsiia v Germanii.” In K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 8, pp. 76–77.
Liebknecht, W. Robert Blium i revoliutsiia 48 goda v Germanii, parts 1–2. St. Petersburg, 1896. (Translated from German.)