John Bertram Askew (16 October 1869 – 5 February 1929) was a British writer and translator, who translated some of the work of

Karl Kautsky Karl Johann Kautsky (; ; 16 October 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Czech-Austrian philosopher, journalist, and Marxist theorist. Kautsky was one of the most authoritative promulgators of orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels in ...

from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Life

Askew was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, to English parents Watson Askew, from

Buckland, Portsmouth Buckland is a residential area in the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. History Buckland, then known as Bocheland, was one of the three settlements on Portsea Island mentioned in the Domesday Book. The Manor of Bocheland ...

, and Sarah Robertson, from London. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. "It was difficult from his own vague allusions in latter years to imagine in what orgy of extravagance this mild, scholarly person might have dissipated his youthful fortunes and become estranged from his family.""Obituary: Mr. J. B. Askew", ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 16 February 1929. In 1896, he published ''Pros and Cons'', a compilation of views on both sides of topical political controversies, which went through several editions. Becoming a socialist, he went to live in Germany, where he knew

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian M ...

's life of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

mentions him as a London associate. Askew separated from his first wife, and in June 1911 a German court ruled that the marriage was dissolved. On 24 April 1912, he married his second wife, Anna Wengels,''Berlin, Germany, Marriages, 1874-1920'' from Berlin. Askew died in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. After his death, the legitimacy of his second marriage was debated as a question of the

conflict of laws Conflict of laws (also called private international law) is the set of rules or laws a jurisdiction applies to a case, transaction, or other occurrence that has connections to more than one jurisdiction. This body of law deals with three broad t ...

in British courts.

Works

Translations

* ''The Social Revolution and, On the Morrow of the Social Revolution'' by

. London: Twentieth Century Press, 1903. * ''Ethics and the materialist conception of history'' by Karl Kautsky. Chicago: C. H. Kerr & Co.

Other

* ''Pros and cons: A newspaper reader's and debater's guide to the leading controversies of the day (political, social, religions, etc.)'', London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Limited, 1896. * ''Der britische Imperialismus'', Stuttgart: Dietz, 1914

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Askew, John Bertram 1869 births 1929 deaths British translators British socialists German–English translators People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British expatriates in Germany Writers from Edinburgh