LONDON (Reuters) — Love him or hate him, Karl Marx of the 19th century, was the most widely acknowledged, quoted, and influential writer of the 20th century. You can find him in published works from economics to history, and from sociology to psychology, not leave out prose and poetry.
Now, for the love of Pete, we have the astounding contention that Marx’s alienation was all about a chronic skin disease.
A British expert said this week that Karl Marx, who complained of excruciating boils, actually suffered from a chronic skin disease with known psychological effects that may well have influenced his writings.
Sam Shuster, professor of dermatology at the University of East Anglia, believes the revolutionary thinker had hidradenitis suppurativa, in which the apocrine sweat glands — found mainly in the armpits and groin — become blocked and inflamed.
"In addition to reducing his ability to work, which contributed to his depressing poverty, hidradenitis greatly reduced his self-esteem," said Shuster, who published his findings in the British Journal of Dermatology.
"This explains his self-loathing and alienation, a response reflected by the alienation Marx developed in his writing."
It could also explain a number of Marx's other complaints, not previously linked, such as joint pain and a painful eye condition that often stopped him from working.
Shuster based his diagnosis on an analysis of Marx's extensive correspondence, in which he wrote to friends about his health and described his skin lesions as "curs" and "swine."
"The bourgeoisie will remember my carbuncles until their dying day," Marx told Friedrich Engels in a letter from 1867.
______