Luxemburg, Rosa (1871–1919)

Rosa Luxemburg, of Polish-Jewish origins, was for most of her life a prominent activist and theorist on the radical left of the German Social Democratic Party. She defended revolutionary Marxism against the ‘revisionist’ critique ofEduard Bernstein; she developed an original and controversial Marxist theory of imperialism; and she advocated direct revolutionary action by the masses, as contrasted with Lenin’s insistence on ‘democratic centralism’ and the leading role of the Party.