Jenny von Westphalen and Karl Heinrich Marx regularly met each other as children. She was four years older than Karl. They became close friends as teenagers. Both of them were well-read and literary, and they soon began courting. According to Marx, she was the most beautiful girl in the town of Trier.[12] Her father, Ludwig von Westphalen, a friend of Marx's father, also befriended the teenage Marx, and would often go on walks with him, where they would discuss philosophy and English literature.[13] Jenny and Karl became engaged in 1836. They eventually married on 19 June 1843 i
- She bore seven children with Marx, though only three daughters survived.
- She copied out all of Marx's articles and book manuscripts by hand, even when she was ill and despairing.
- She was a regular customer of London pawnbrokers, as the family lived in poverty.
- She raised money for her husband's work and was away from home at times to do so.
- She stayed with Marx even after he fathered a child with their housekeeper.
