The Making of a Marxist

Maurice Dobb was a novelist before he became an economist. But he started writing novels — along with essays, short stories, and plays — before he did many things, including finish puberty. The words began to pour out from him shortly after the death of his mother, Elsie Annie Moir, in 1913. Dobb was an only child, and a solitary one. Elsie’s death came at an especially difficult time, just as Dobb, born on July 24, 1900, was entering his teenage years. His father, Walter Herbert Dobb, dealt with the loss by throwing himself into mastering the tenets of Christian Science, the faith he adopted following his wife’s death. As for Walter’s son, shyness prevented him from building close friendships that might have softened his grief. He spent much of his childhood with adults — his family, his father’s friends — already cultivating the impeccable manners that would become one of his defining characteristics.