Editing Max Stirner (section)

== Biography ==
[[File:MaxStirner'sbirthplace.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Stirner's birthplace in Bayreuth]]
Stirner was born in [[Bayreuth]], [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]]. What little is known of his life is mostly due to the Scottish-born German writer [[John Henry Mackay]], who wrote a biography of Stirner (''Max Stirner – sein Leben und sein Werk''), published in German in 1898 (enlarged 1910, 1914) and translated into English in 2005. Stirner was the only child of Albert Christian Heinrich Schmidt (1769–1807) and Sophia Elenora Reinlein (1778–1839), who were [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Leopold|first=David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wdXLCgAAQBAJ&dq=max+stirner+lutheran&pg=PR12|title=Stirner: The Ego and Its Own, 1995|year=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1316583654}}</ref> His father died of [[tuberculosis]] on 19 April 1807 at the age of 37.<ref name="seinleben">[http://www.nonserviam.com/stirner/bio/sein_leben/ "John Henry Mackay: Max Stirner – Sein Leben und sein Werk"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109232842/http://www.nonserviam.com/stirner/bio/sein_leben/ |date=9 November 2016 }}. p. 28.</ref> In 1809, his mother remarried to Heinrich Ballerstedt (a [[pharmacist]]) and settled in [[West Prussia]]n Kulm (now [[Chełmno]], Poland). When Stirner turned 20, he attended the [[University of Berlin]],<ref name="seinleben"/> where he studied [[philology]]. He attended the lectures of [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]], who was to become a source of inspiration for his thinking.<ref>''The Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', volume 8, The Macmillan Company and The Free Press, New York 1967.</ref> He attended Hegel's lectures on the history of philosophy, the philosophy of [[religion]] and the subjective spirit. Stirner then moved to the [[University of Erlangen]], which he attended at the same time as [[Ludwig Feuerbach]].{{sfn|Stepelevich|1985|p=602}}

Stirner returned to Berlin and obtained a teaching certificate, but he was unable to obtain a full-time teaching post from the Prussian government.<ref>{{cite book|last=Marshall|first=Peter|title=Demanding the Impossible|title-link=Demanding the Impossible|year=1992|publisher=Harper Collins|isbn=0002178559|page=221}}</ref> While in Berlin in 1841, Stirner participated in discussions with a group of young philosophers called ''[[Die Freien]]'' (The Free Ones), whom historians have subsequently categorized as the [[Young Hegelians]]. Some of the best known names in 19th-century literature and [[19th-century philosophy|philosophy]] were involved with this group, including [[Karl Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels]], [[Bruno Bauer]] and [[Arnold Ruge]]. While some of the Young Hegelians were eager subscribers to Hegel's [[dialectical]] method and attempted to apply dialectical approaches to Hegel's conclusions, the left-wing members of the group broke with Hegel. Feuerbach and Bauer led this charge.
[[File:Die_Freien_by_Friedrich_Engels.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Stirner, here depicted by Engels in 1842 standing, smoking and laying a hand on a table, was a member of the short-lived [[Young Hegelians|Young Hegelian]] group known as ''Die Freien''.]]
Frequently the debates would take place at Hippel's, a [[wine bar]] in [[Friedrichstraße]], attended by among others Marx and Engels, who were both adherents of Feuerbach at the time. Stirner met with Engels many times and Engels even recalled that they were "great friends,"<ref name="autogenerated2">Lawrence L Stepelevich. ''The Revival of Max Stirner''.</ref> but it is still unclear whether Marx and Stirner ever met. It does not appear that Stirner contributed much to the discussions, but he was a faithful member of the club and an attentive listener.<ref>Gide, Charles and Rist, Charles. ''A History of Economic Doctrines from the Time of the Physiocrats to the Present Day''. Harrap 1956, p. 612.</ref> The most-often reproduced portrait of Stirner is a cartoon by Engels, drawn forty years later from memory at biographer Mackay's request. It is highly likely that this and the group sketch of ''Die Freien'' at Hippel's are the only firsthand images of Stirner. Stirner worked as a teacher in a school for young girls owned by Madame Gropius<ref>''The Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', vol. 8, The Macmillan Company and The Free Press, New York 1967.</ref> when he wrote his major work, ''[[The Ego and Its Own]]''.

Stirner married twice. His first wife was Agnes Burtz (1815–1838), the daughter of his landlady, whom he married on 12 December 1837. However, she died from complications with pregnancy in 1838. In 1843, he married [[Marie Dähnhardt]], an intellectual associated with ''Die Freien''. Their ''[[ad hoc]]'' wedding took place at Stirner's apartment, during which the participants were notably [[Casual wear|dressed casually]], used copper rings as they had forgotten to buy [[wedding rings]], and needed to search the whole neighborhood for a [[Bible]] as they did not have their own. In 1844, ''The Unique and Its Property'' was dedicated "to my sweetheart Marie Dähnhardt." Afterward, using Marie's inheritance, Stirner opened a [[Dairy (store)|dairy shop]] that handled the distribution of [[milk]] from [[Dairy farming|dairy farmers]] into the city, but was unable to solicit the customers needed to keep the business afloat. It quickly failed and drove a wedge between him and Marie, leading to their separation in 1847.<ref>{{cite book|title=Anarchism in Germany. Volume I: The Early Movement|first=Andrew R.|last=Carlson|chapter=II: Max Stirner (1806–1856)|title-link=Anarchism in Germany (book)|chapter-url=https://libcom.org/library/chapter-ii-max-stirner-1806-1856|pages=55–56|year=1972|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield|Scarecrow Press]]|location=[[Metuchen, New Jersey]]|isbn=0-8108-0484-0|oclc=490643062}}</ref> Marie later converted to [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholicism]] and died in 1902 in London.

After ''[[The Ego and Its Own]]'', Stirner wrote ''Stirner's Critics'' and translated [[Adam Smith]]'s ''[[The Wealth of Nations]]'' and [[Jean-Baptiste Say]]'s ''[[Say's Political Economy|Traité d'economie politique]]'' into German to little financial gain. He also wrote a compilation of texts titled ''History of Reaction'' in 1852. Stirner died in 1856 in Berlin from a tumor, alleged to be due to an infected insect bite.<ref name="SEP-Stirner" /> Only Bruno Bauer and Ludwig Buhl represented the Young Hegelians present at his funeral,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stepelevich |first1=Lawrence S. |title=Max Stirner and Ludwig Feuerbach |journal=Journal of the History of Ideas |date=1978 |volume=39 |issue=3 |page=452 |doi=10.2307/2709388 |jstor=2709388 |url=http://www.jstor.com/stable/2709388 |access-date=1 July 2021 |issn=0022-5037 |quote=Only Bruno Bauer and Ludwig Buhl represented the Young Hegelians at his funeral.}}</ref> held at the [[Friedhof II der Sophiengemeinde Berlin]].