Martinu \mar-'te-nu\, Bohuslav (Jan) (b. Dec. 8, 1890, Policka, Bohemia—d. Aug. 28, 1959, Liestal, Switz.) Czech (Bohemian) com¬ poser. He started composing at age 10 but was expelled from the conser¬ vatory for neglecting his studies. His early pieces combined the influences of Czech folk music and French composer Claude Debussy’s music. In Paris (1923^40) he gained a reputation for his colourful ballet scores and experimented with Neoclassicism, jazz, and ragtime. He composed many works, including six symphonies, operas (including Julietta, 1938), and large choral works (including The Epic of Gilgamesh, 1955), but he did little to promote his music.
Martov Vmar-.tofX, L. orig. Yuly Osipovich Tsederbaum (b. Nov. 24, 1873, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire—d. April 4, 1923, Berlin, Ger.) Russian revolutionary. He first lived in Vilna, where he belonged to the Bund, a Jewish socialist group. In 1895 he and Vladimir Ilich Lenin formed the St. Petersburg Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class. After his arrest and exile to Siberia (1896-99), he joined Lenin in Switzerland as an editor of Iskra. From 1903 Martov supported the Menshevik faction of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party and became its leader (1905-07). After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he supported the Bolshevik government in the Russian Civil War but later opposed many of its dictatorial measures. He left Russia in 1920 and edited the Socialist Courier in Berlin.
martyr Person who voluntarily suffers death rather than deny his or her religion. Readiness for martyrdom was a collective ideal in ancient Juda¬
ism, notably in the era of the Maccabees, and its importance has contin¬ ued into modern times. Roman Catholicism sees the suffering of martyrs as a test of their faith. Many saints of the early church underwent mar¬ tyrdom during the persecutions of the Roman emperors. Martyrs need not perform miracles to be canonized. In Islam, martyrs are thought to com¬ prise two groups of the faithfuclass="underline" those killed in jihad and those killed unjustly. In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is regarded as a martyr because he voluntarily postpones enlightenment to alleviate the suffering of others.
Marvell Vmar-volV Andrew (b. March 31, 1621, Winestead, York¬ shire, Eng.—d. Aug. 18, 1678, London) English poet and politician. He was employed as a tutor, including to Oliver Cromwell’s ward, before becoming an assistant to John Milton in the foreign office in 1657. From 1659 he held a seat in Parliament. His reputation as one of the finest secu¬ lar Metaphysical poets (see Metaphysical poetry) is based on a small body of brilliant lyric verse, notably “To His Coy Mistress” (1681) and “The Garden.” Among his other works are classical odes, such as “An Hora- tian Ode upon Cromwell’s Return from Ireland” (1650); political verse satires opposing the government after the Restoration, such as Last Instructions to a Painter (1667); and prose satires.
Marx, Karl (Heinrich) (b. May 5, 1818, Trier, Rhine province, Prus¬ sia [Ger.]—d. March 14, 1883, London, Eng.) German political philoso¬ pher, economic theorist, and revolutionary. He studied humanities at the University of Bonn (1835) and law and philosophy at the University of Berlin (1836—41), where he was exposed to the works of G.W.F. Hegel. Working as a writer in Cologne and Paris (1842^15), he became active in leftist politics. In Paris he met Friedrich Engels, who would become his lifelong collaborator. Expelled from France in 1845, he moved to Brus¬ sels, where his political orientation matured and he and Engels made names for themselves through their writings. Marx was invited to join a secret left-wing group in London, for which he and Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto (1848). In that same year, Marx organized the first Rhineland Democratic Congress in Germany and opposed the king of Prussia when he dissolved the Prussian Assembly. Exiled, he moved to London in 1849, where he spent the rest of his life. He worked part-time as a European correspondent for the New York Tribune (1851-62) while writing his major critique of capitalism, Das Kapital (3 vol., 1867-94). He was a leading figure in the First International from 1864 until the defec¬ tion of Mikhail Bakunin in 1872. See also Marxism; communism; dialectical
MATERIALISM.
Marx Brothers U.S. comedy team. The original five brothers were Chico (orig. Leonard) (1886-1961), Harpo (orig. Adolph Arthur) (1888— 1964), Groucho (orig. Julius Henry) (1890-1977), Gummo (orig. Milton) (1893-1977), and Zeppo (orig. Herbert) (1901-79). They formed a vaude¬ ville act with their mother, Minnie, called “The Six Musical Mascots” (1904-18). Gummo left the act early on, and the brothers later became “The Four Marx Brothers.” They won fame with their first Broadway play.
Groucho, Harpo, and Chico Marx
THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE
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Marxism ► Masaccio I 1205
I’ll Say She Is (1924), which was followed by The Cocoanuts (1925; film, 1929) and Animal Crackers (1926; film, 1930). They later starred in Mon¬ key Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932), Duck Soup (1933), A Night at the Opera (1935), and Room Service (1938), among other films, devel¬ oping a skillful blend of visual and verbal humour, with Groucho sup¬ plying wisecracks and a running commentary as counterpoint to the frantic, anarchic activities of the silent Harpo and the Italian-accented Chico. Zeppo left the act in 1934, and the act disbanded in 1949. Grou¬ cho later hosted the television quiz program You Bet Your Life (1950-61).
Marxism Ideology and socioeconomic theory developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The fundamental ideology of communism, it holds that all people are entitled to enjoy the fruits of their labour but are prevented from doing so in a capitalist economic system, which divides society into two classes: nonowning workers and non working owners. Marx called the resulting situation “alienation,” and he said that when the workers repossessed the fruits of their labour, alienation would be overcome and class divisions would cease. The Marxist theory of history posits class struggle as history’s driving force, and it sees capitalism as the most recent and most critical historical stage—most critical because at this stage the proletariat will at last arise united. The failure of the European Revolutions of 1 848 and an increasing need to elaborate on Marxist theory, whose orientation is more analytical than practical, led to adaptations such as Leninism and Maoism; in the late 20th century the collapse of the Soviet Union and China’s adoption of many elements of a free-market economy seemed to mark the end of Marxism as an applicable economic or gov¬ ernmental theory, though it retains interest as a critique of market capi¬ talism and a theory of historical change. See also Communist RAanifesto\ DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM; SOCIALISM; STAUNISM; TROTSKYISM.
Mary or St. Mary or Virgin Mary (fl. beginning of the Christian Era) Mother of Jesus. According to the Gospels, she was betrothed to St. Joseph when the archangel Gabriel appeared to her to announce the com¬ ing birth of Jesus. Other incidents in the Gospels in which she appears include the visit to Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist; the birth of Jesus and his presentation in the Temple; the coming of the Magi and the flight to Egypt; the marriage at Cana in Galilee; the attempt to see Jesus while he was teaching; and watching at the cross. Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and most Protestant denominations hold Jesus to have been divinely conceived and Mary to have remained a virgin. The Roman Catholic church also holds to the doctrine of her Immaculate Conception and her bodily assumption into heaven. Catholics pray to Mary as an intercessor. See also Mariology.
Mary See Merv
Mary I or Mary Tudor (b. Feb. 18, 1516, Greenwich, near London, Eng.—d. Nov. 17, 1558, London) Queen of England (1553-58). The daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, she was declared illegitimate after Henry’s divorce and new marriage to Anne Boleyn (1533). In 1544 Mary was restored to court and granted succession to the throne. After becoming queen (1553), she married Philip II of Spain, restored Roman Catholicism, and revived the laws against heresy. The resulting persecution of Protestant rebels and the execution of some 300 heretics earned her the hatred of her subjects and the nickname “Bloody Mary.” She waged an unsuccessful war against France that in 1558 resulted in the loss of Calais, England’s last foothold on the Continent.