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Robert Owen

Welsh textile manufacturer and social reformer (1771-1858) · United Kingdom · Founders · Died at 87

Robert Owen is read about 637 times a day, in 66 languages.

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A Welsh mill owner who got rich on textiles, then sank his fortune into communes that collapsed - but the blueprint stuck. Owen gave the world the co-op, the crèche, and the idea that workers might deserve better than twelve-hour days at age seven.

ActivistsAcademicEconomicsPoliticsPhilosophyLiteratureActivismUnited Kingdom

A life in dates

1858Died17 November 1858“My life was not useless; I gave important truths to the world, and it was only for want of understanding that they were disregarded. I have been ahead of my time.”In their wordsNovember 1858Deathbed statement (November 1858), in response to a church minister who asked if he regretted wasting his life on fruitless projects; as

1841“The lowest stage of humanity is experienced when the individual must labour for a small pittance of wages from others.”In their wordsPaper Dedicated to the Governments of Great Britain, Austria, Russia, France, Prussia and the United States of America (1841)

1826“To train and educate the rising generation will at all times be the first object of society, to which every other will be subordinate.”In their wordsThe Social System - Constitution, Laws, and Regulations of a Community (1826) [written in 1821, published in 1826]

1816“The Institution has been devised to afford the means of receiving your children at an early age, almost as soon as they can walk.”In their words1 January 1816"Address to the Inhabitants of New Lanark" at the opening of the Institute for the Formation of Character (1 January, 1816)

“They would receive the same care and attention as those who belong to the establishment.”In their words1 January 1816On educating children of the poor, and of neighboring communities.

1813“The end of government is to make the governed and the governors happy.”In their wordsEssay Fourth, The Principles of the Former Essays Applied to Government

1771Born14 May 1771

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Robert Owen by William Henry BrookeRobert Owen by William Henry BrookePortrait of Robert OwenPortrait of Robert OwenChristelijke encyclopædie voor het Nederlandsche volk 4-563Christelijke encyclopædie voor het Nederlandsche volk 4-563Crowd of people congregated by the grave of Robert Owen at the old parish church, Newtown (1293839)Crowd of people congregated by the grave of Robert Owen at the old parish church, Newtown (1293839)Dr Elspeth King holding a bust of Robert Owen (1771-1858), co-operator and reformerDr Elspeth King holding a bust of Robert Owen (1771-1858), co-operator and reformerErwin Hasselmann, Robert Owen 1958Erwin Hasselmann, Robert Owen 1958Exert from the Glasgow Courier, 18th March 1820, of an address to Robert Owen from the inhabitants of New Lanark (1294481)Exert from the Glasgow Courier, 18th March 1820, of an address to Robert Owen from the inhabitants of New Lanark (1294481)Extract from the Glasgow Courier newspaper, 18 March 1820, page 2 written by Robert Owen (1294473)Extract from the Glasgow Courier newspaper, 18 March 1820, page 2 written by Robert Owen (1294473)

In their own words 10

,
Robert Owen
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. My life was not useless; I gave important truths to the world, and it was only for want of understanding that they were disregarded. I have been ahead of my time.

    Nov 1858, Deathbed statement (November 1858), in response to a church minister who asked if he regretted wasting his life on fruitless projects; as, Own words

  2. I was forced, through seeing the error of their foundation, to abandon all belief in every religion which had been taught to man.

    1857, Life of Robert Owen (1857) his autobiography, as quoted by Jim Herrick, in "Bradlaugh and Secularism: 'The Province of the Real'" (1990), Own words

  3. The lowest stage of humanity is experienced when the individual must labour for a small pittance of wages from others.

    1841, Paper Dedicated to the Governments of Great Britain, Austria, Russia, France, Prussia and the United States of America (1841), Own words

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About this person

Owen trained as a draper in Stamford, moved to Manchester at eighteen, and by the early 1800s had made his money running a textile mill at New Lanark in Scotland. There he tested his theories: better conditions, schools that taught character over job skills, collective child-rearing. In 1824 he took most of his wealth to Indiana and built New Harmony, an experimental socialistic community that folded after two years. Other Owenite ventures failed the same way. He returned to London in 1828 and spent the next three decades organizing co-operatives, building the trade union movement, and pushing for child labour laws and free co-educational schools - a second act built from the rubble of the first.

Country
United Kingdom
Category
Founders
Type
Founder
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1771 to 1858 · aged 87

Founders from the United Kingdom 6

Brian Epstein64.2Thomas Andrews62.3Rahim Aga Khan64.4Charles Saatchi61.6Mustafa Süleyman68.3Richard Arkwright57.8

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