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Wilhelm Liebknecht

Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht (; 29 March 1826 – 7 August 1900) was a German socialist activist and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He was the father of socialists Karl Liebknecht and Theodor Liebknecht.

Liebknecht participated in the German Revolution of 1848, and after its defeat lived in exile, where he met Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. In 1862, he returned to Germany and worked with Ferdinand Lassalle in Berlin until disagreements with Lassalle's General German Workers' Association (ADAV) led him to move to Saxony. In 1866, he and August Bebel founded the Saxon People's Party, and in 1869 the two founded the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP). In 1875, Liebknecht helped to unite the SDAP and ADAV to form the party which later became the SPD, and was largely responsible for drafting its inaugural Gotha Program. Liebknecht was also a member of the Reichstag from 1874, and an important member of the Second International from 1889. Provided by Wikipedia