Joseph Dietzgen
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Joseph Dietzgen (December 1828 - 1888) was a socialist and marxist philosopher.
He was born in Blankenberg near Siegburg, Germany. He was, like his father, a tanner by profession. Entirely self-educated, he developed the notion of dialectical materialism independently from Marx and Engels. Ludwig Feuerbach's works had a great influence on his early theories.
He spent some time in the U.S. from 1849 to 1851 and again from 1859 to 1861. From 1864 to 1868, he lived in St. Petersburg, where he was headmaster in the state tannery. Back in Germany, he met Marx in 1869. In 1881, he ran for the elections of the German Reichstag (the parliament), but emigrated in 1884 to New York City. He moved to Chicago two years later, where he became editor at the Arbeiterzeitung. Dietzgen died in Chicago.