August Becker (c. 1810–1875) was a German political activist, politician, and journalist. Becker was a member of the legislature of the German state of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

. In his later years he emigrated to the United States of America, where he worked as a journalist until the time of his death.

Biography

Early years

August Becker was born sometime around 1810 in Germany, the son of a clergyman. In his youth he studied theology for a brief time before being introduced to

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

ideas and turning his activity towards that realm.

Political career

Becker's political activity brought him into conflict with the law, and he was subsequently arrested and imprisoned for four years. Following his release, Becker emigrated to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland, where he published political

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

s as well as articles for the radical press. Among those papers for which he wrote were the and the . With the eruption of the

Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

, Becker returned to Germany. There he published a political journal and was elected a member of the parliament for the Central German state of

Emigration

With the fall of the 1848 revolution, the "Red '48-er" Becker emigrated to the United States of America. He ultimately moved to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, where he worked as a journalist until his death in 1875.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, August 1810 births 1875 deaths German socialists German emigrants to the United States American socialists Ohio socialists Members of the Second Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse People of the Revolutions of 1848