Henryk Grossman

About the Author

Henryk Grossman (1883-1950) was a pioneering Marxist economist and philosopher whose incisive analyses of capitalism's inherent contradictions profoundly influenced twentieth-century thought. Born in Galicia under Austro-Hungarian rule, Grossman immersed himself in socialist politics, joining the Polish Social Democratic Party and later contributing to the revolutionary movements of interwar Europe. Exiled from Poland for his activism, he found refuge in Germany and eventually the United States, where he continued his scholarly pursuits amid the turmoil of fascism and war. Grossman's seminal work, 'The Law of Accumulation and Breakdown of the Capitalist System' (1929), rigorously applied Marxist theory to demonstrate capitalism's inevitable collapse, challenging reformist tendencies within the workers' movement. His essays and letters, as compiled in 'Henryk Grossman Works, Volume 1: Essays and Letters on Economic Theory (Historical Materialism),' reveal a thinker committed to dialectical materialism, blending rigorous economic critique with historical insight to illuminate the dynamics of class struggle and imperialist expansion.