Jean Longuet

Jean-Laurent-Frederick Longuet (5 October 1876 – 11 September 1938) was a French socialist politician and journalist. He was Karl Marx's grandson. Early years Jean, often called 'Johnny' as a boy by his family, was born in London on October 5, 1876, the son of Charles and Jenny Longuet. He was their second son, and the eldest who survived to adulthood. The family often visited Jenny's father, Karl Marx, who liked to play with his grandchildren. The Longuet family moved to France in February 1881. In summer 1882 Karl Marx stayed with the Longuets for three months, being joined by Jean's aunt Eleanor Marx. By this time Jenny was suffering from bladder cancer, and would die a year later. To ease the burden on the family, Eleanor took Jean back to England in August 1882, promising to educate and discipline him. They became close, with Eleanor thinking of him as ‘my boy’. On his return to France, Jean lived for a time with his father's family in Caen to continue his studies. Political career After attending university in Paris, Longuet worked as a journalist and trained as a lawyer. He worked for the newspaper L'Humanité and was a founder and editor of the newspaper Le Populaire. He was active in one of France's principal socialist parties, the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), and served both as a mayor and as a member of the French Chamber of Deputies.