Tomb of Karl Marx

Tomb of Karl Marx
Tomb of Karl Marx
	Tomb of Karl Marx
Artist	Laurence Bradshaw
Completion date	1956
Type	Sculpture
Medium	Bronze
Subject	Karl Marx
Dimensions	3.7 m (12 ft)
Location	Highgate Cemetery; London, N6
	51°33′58″N 0°08′38″W / 51.5662°N 0.1439°W
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Tomb of Karl Marx and family
Designated	14 May 1974
Reference no.	1378872

The Tomb of Karl Marx stands in the Eastern cemetery of Highgate Cemetery, North London, England. It commemorates the burial sites of Marx, of his wife, Jenny von Westphalen, and other members of his family. Originally buried in a different part of the Eastern cemetery, the bodies were disinterred and reburied at their present location in 1954. The tomb was designed by Laurence Bradshaw and was unveiled in 1956, in a ceremony led by Harry Pollitt, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain, which funded the memorial.

The tomb consists of a large bust of Marx in bronze set on a marble pedestal. The pedestal is inscribed with quotes from Marx's works including, on the front, the final words of The Communist Manifesto, "Workers of all lands unite". Since its construction, the tomb has become a place of pilgrimage for followers of Marxist theory. It has also been a target for Marx's opponents, suffering vandalism, and two bomb attacks in the 1970s. It is a Grade I listed structure, the highest listing reserved for buildings and structures of "exceptional interest".