‘Lafargue Died Poor’ from the Daily People. Vol. 12 No. 170. December 18, 1911.

Had Planned Suicide Ten Years Ago, Says Lafargue’s Nephew, Longuet–Sordid Money Worries” Repelled Him–His Ideal Life With Laura Marx.

Paris, December 17. The painful impression cause by the suicide of Paul Lafargue, who, with his wife, the daughter of Karl Marx, poisoned himself recently, was deepened this week by the discovery made on opening the will that nothing was left of the wealth which, it was generally believed. Lafargue was boarding at his pretty villa at Davreil.

The Socialist died almost penniless, leaving only just enough for his funeral and $100 to his gardener. It is further revealed by his nephew. Dr. Longuet, that Lafargue and his wife did not take their lives in a moment of disgust with life, but that their suicide was the result of a carefully conceived plan arranged in every detail ten years ago.

According to Longuet, Lafargue and his wife lived up to the extreme theories of Socialism and were both gifted with almost incredible strength of character. Although his wife was supposed to draw large profits from the sale of Karl Marx’s works, Lafargue was never a wealthy man. Ten years ago he inherited from his mother $31,000, which constituted his entire fortune. The idea of investing the money at interest never entered his mind:

“I am sixty years old,” he then said, “and for ten years to come I believe I shall keep my suppleness of body and activity of mind. Then I shall fall a victim to the sorrows of old age. I prefer not to face them. If death does not come to me then I shall go to meet it. I give myself ten years to live, and in order to prevent them from being overshadowed by sordid money worries, I shall divide my legacy into ten equal shares, one for each year. When my money is gone, I shall go too.”

From that day on, Lafargue and his wife lived an uneventful life at their pretty villa, mortgaging the estate as they went on. The thought that every dollar they spent was a step toward the grave was never allowed to disturb their peaceful life.

Every Sunday a few friends assembled at their table and toasts were drunk to the successful future of Socialism. Three weeks before his death Lafargue had only $500 left. One day, a friend called and asked him for the loan of $200.

“Take it,” said Lafargue, and he handed the friend the notes. A week later Lafargue and his wife were found dead from poison that Lafargue himself had distilled.

New York Labor News Company was the publishing house of the Socialist Labor Party and their paper The People. The People was the official paper of the Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP), established in New York City in 1891 as a weekly. The New York SLP, and The People, were dominated Daniel De Leon and his supporters, the dominant ideological leader of the SLP from the 1890s until the time of his death. The People became a daily in 1900. It’s first editor was the French socialist Lucien Sanial who was quickly replaced by De Leon who held the position until his death in 1914. Morris Hillquit and Henry Slobodin, future leaders of the Socialist Party of America were writers before their split from the SLP in 1899. For a while there were two SLPs and two Peoples, requiring a legal case to determine ownership. Eventual the anti-De Leonist produced what would become the New York Call and became the Social Democratic, later Socialist, Party. The De Leonist The People continued publishing until 2008.