Karl Marx died poor, Charles Darwin, Dickens richer
Aug. 12: No wonder! The enemy of capitalism Karl Marx left just £250 to his name while Charles Darwin, the naturalist who preached the “survival of the fittest” theory in the evolution of species, owned £13 million pounds.
Though the German-born philosopher would be worth £23,000 in today’s money, Marx’s estate pales into insignificance alongside other famous names, according a website which has published the wills of six million people from 1861 to 1941, Daily Mail reported. Darwin left an estate worth £13 million pounds in today’s money and the Victorian era author Charles Dickens was worth equivalent of £7.1 million by the time he died. The names are among the six million English and Welsh wills published online and the total worth of 6,079,000 estates catalogued tops £20 billion in today’s money, the Mail said.
Socialist figurehead Marx, who died in 1883 and is buried in London’s Highgate Cemetery, left the sum to his youngest daughter Eleanor, the records show. Others included in the Ancestry.-Co.Uk index are numerous famous names such as once-rich polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, who died in 1922 leaving an estate of just £556 pounds (20,000 pounds today).
He lost his fortune in failed money-making schemes while allegedly trying to recapture the adventure of his youth. Darwin, who left a personal estate worth £146,911, around £13 million today, when he died in 1882. John Cadbury, the “King of Chocolate”, died with a estate of £43,773, around £4.2 million today, when he died in 1889. Charles Dickens died leaving “effects under £80,000” — around £7.1 million today — when he died in 1870, the paper said citing the website list. Ancestry.Co.Uk international content director Dan Jones said: “I think it’s good for Karl Marx’s legacy that he only had £250 — if he had had any more it would probably have undermined his ideology! “Darwin fared well — he was a successful publisher, with the Origin of the Species being one of the most widely distributed books.
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