Eugene Dietzgen (1862–1929) was a German-American manufacturer of engineering supplies. He was also a writer and promoter of the ideas of his father, the

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 ...

philosopher

Joseph Dietzgen Peter Josef Dietzgen (December 9, 1828April 15, 1888) was a German socialist philosopher, Marxist and journalist. Dietzgen was born in Blankenberg in the Rhine Province of Prussia. He was the first of five children of father Johann Gottfried Ann ...

Early life

Eugene Dietzgen, the eldest son of Joseph Ditzgen, was born in Germany. At age two he was taken by his father to

Tsarist Russia Tsarist Russia may refer to: * Grand Duchy of Moscow (1480–1547) *Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721) *Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of ...

, where he was educated in the

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

and in his father's trade,

tannery Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

. They both returned in 1868. In 1881, Eugene's father sent him to America to escape the

military draft Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

and to hide some of his father's socialist literature; the literature had already landed Joseph in jail a few years before. Eugene was only 19 years old when he arrived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He began work with a German drafting company, and eventually moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Business life

In Chicago, Dietzgen started the Eugene Dietzgen Drafting Company, which operates today as Dietzgen Corporation, a privately held company. Dietzgen, heavily influenced by his father, one of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

's favorite philosophers, provided his factory workers with many amenities not often found in the 19th century. These included separate bathrooms for men and women, open windowsills with flowers decorating the air, and a general atmosphere of a healthy working community.Feldmann, Vera Dietzgen, interview by Joshua J. Morris. Joseph Dietzgen Research (April 16, 2008) The original building still stands at 218 East 23rd Street, Chicago.Feldmann, Vera Dietzgen, interview by Joshua J. Morris. Joseph Dietzgen Research (May 2, 2008) By 1906, Dietzgen had two manufacturing plants. The company still exists, and its second building remains as a part of

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

, at the corner of Fullerton Avenue and Sheffield, in Chicago's once heavily German neighborhood of

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

. The company was noted for its production of

slide rules The slide rule is a mechanical analog computer which is used primarily for multiplication and division, and for functions such as exponents, roots, logarithms, and trigonometry. It is not typically designed for addition or subtraction, which is ...

, which Dietzgen started in 1898 after acquiring a patent from

John Givan Davis Mack John Givan Davis Mack (September 5, 1867 – February 24, 1924) was a professor of engineering at the University of Wisconsin. He was also curator of the museum of the Wisconsin Historical Society. He was for many years State Chief Engineer. Biog ...

(1867–1924). His company's ''Mack Improved Mannheim Simplex Slide Rule'' sold from 1902 to 1912 for $4.50.

Editor and writer

Dietzgen actively promoted the work of his father, Joseph, and added additional philosophical material of his own.

Personal life

Dietzgen's first wife could not bear him children; they divorced, and in 1912 Eugene moved to Zurich, Switzerland. There he met his second wife, Jansen, and they had three boys and three girls.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dietzgen, Eugene 1862 births 1929 deaths German emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from Illinois German expatriates in the Russian Empire