Marx’s second daughter, Laura, fell in love with a young medical student named Paul Lafargue in 1866. Lafargue was of French-Cuban origin. He was apparently one-quarter Jewish, one-quarter Carib Indian, probably less than an eighth Negro, and the rest French.
Although Lafargue was a socialist and one of Marx’s great admirers, Marx was not at all pleased with the proposed marriage until he discovered that the bridegroom-to-be was the only son of a wealthy West Indian planter whose father planned to settle a large sum on the couple. This not only provided Laura with apparent financial security, but opened up a new source from which Marx himself might borrow money. Marx decided that Lafargue was “a handsome, intelligent, energetic and gymnastically developed fellow” with “an exceptional talent for medicine.”
Lafargue’s “exceptional talent for medicine” may seem dubious to the modern reader since he believed that the main cures for disease were “alcohol and electricity.”4 He opposed Pasteur’s discoveries and sent Marx articles that maintained that germs were spontaneously created.5 Whether he was a potential medical genius or not, Lafargue in time abandoned medicine for unsound business schemes and socialist politics.
Lafargue seemed in many ways an ideal son-in-law. He was comparatively rich, a socialist, a man who ran political errands for Marx, a professional, and, by Marx’s standards, a coming man in medicine. This did not prevent Marx from telling Theodore Cuno, a fellow socialist who was emigrating to the United States that one of his daughters had contributed to “solving the color question by marrying a ni—er. . . ,”6 In addition, Marx habitually referred to Lafargue as “the little Negro” (Negrillo) or as “the Gorilla.”7
Interesting tale of Marx’s mixed race son in law:
Marx’s second daughter, Laura, fell in love with a young medical student named Paul Lafargue in 1866. Lafargue was of French-Cuban origin. He was apparently one-quarter Jewish, one-quarter Carib Indian, probably less than an eighth Negro, and the rest French. Although Lafargue was a socialist and one of Marx’s great admirers, Marx was not at all pleased with the proposed marriage until he discovered that the bridegroom-to-be was the only son of a wealthy West Indian planter whose father planned to settle a large sum on the couple. This not only provided Laura with apparent financial security, but opened up a new source from which Marx himself might borrow money. Marx decided that Lafargue was “a handsome, intelligent, energetic and gymnastically developed fellow” with “an exceptional talent for medicine.” Lafargue’s “exceptional talent for medicine” may seem dubious to the modern reader since he believed that the main cures for disease were “alcohol and electricity.”4 He opposed Pasteur’s discoveries and sent Marx articles that maintained that germs were spontaneously created.5 Whether he was a potential medical genius or not, Lafargue in time abandoned medicine for unsound business schemes and socialist politics. Lafargue seemed in many ways an ideal son-in-law. He was comparatively rich, a socialist, a man who ran political errands for Marx, a professional, and, by Marx’s standards, a coming man in medicine. This did not prevent Marx from telling Theodore Cuno, a fellow socialist who was emigrating to the United States that one of his daughters had contributed to “solving the color question by marrying a ni—er. . . ,”6 In addition, Marx habitually referred to Lafargue as “the little Negro” (Negrillo) or as “the Gorilla.”7