Malfew Seklew (1863 – 9 February 1938) was a British Nietzschean known for his promotion of Egoism, particularly in the United States.
Biography Born in Sheffield in England,Labour Annual (1900), p. 156 as Fred M. Wilkes, his father was a wealthy brewer."Soapbox 'king', 77, dies in Bellevue", New York Times, 10 February 1938 He became a clerk at the Nottingham Journal,Laurel Brake, Aled Jones and Lionel Madden, Investigating Victorian Journalism, p. 50 where he claimed to have worked alongside J. M. Barrie."Surfessor of Egoism", Manchester Guardian, 25 September 1934 He became a supporter of first Fabianism, and then anarchism, and claimed to have worked for the newspaper of Kropotkin for a time. He then developed an interest in the work of Friedrich Nietzsche and fused this with his other beliefs, creating what he termed an "Egoist-Materialist-Libertarian-Socialist School"; later, he coined the shorter term, "Athegoism".Matthew Thomas, Anarchist Ideas and Counter-cultures in Britain, 1880-1914, p. 22 He claimed that this combined socialist economics with anarchist politics, ideas from the Social Democratic Federation, science in general, and the work of Nietzsche. Though, later in life he would become a capitalist in economics and would be critical of socialism and communism.
Wilkes moved to New York City in 1885, where he began propounded his ideas in street corner speeches. Although he attracted few supporters, his fluent speeches and apparent familiarity with many prominent figures, ensured he attracted large groups to hear him speak. During this time, he adopted the name "Malfew Seklew", and claimed to have stood for Congress.Union of Egoists, "Malfew Seklew (1861 – 1938)"
Seklew returned to the UK in about 1900, settling in Bradford. There, he worked with J. W. Gott on The Truthseeker, and later propounded his ideas in The Eagle and The Serpent, a journal of which he was associate editor, all while running the Chicago Lunch Bar. He moved to Chicago in 1916, where he became a regular speaker at the Dil Pickle Club. As many of the speakers there described themselves as "professors", he decided to invent a higher title, calling himself Sirfessor Wilkes Barre.Franklin Rosemount, The Rise & Fall of the Dil Pickle, p. 16 He sold copies of a pamphlet, largely consisting of sayings of Mediaeval philosophers, entitled "The Gospel According to Malfew Seklew",Saturday Review, vol. 30, p. 36 and supplemented his income by selling other goods, such as cigarette holders."Unhatched egos bathe their souls in super sunlight", Chicago Daily Tribune, 28 February 1916 Seklew shared many of his ideas with Ragnar Redbeard, and the two shared a property for a time in the 1920s.
Seklew took part in a non-stop talking contest in New York in 1928. Although he dropped out on the second day, he attracted attention by describing himself as the "coiner of more new words than any man in the world", and as "transcending the wit of Shakespeare"."Runs out of words, put out of contest", New York Times, 27 December 1928"Seven quit talking match", New York Times, 28 December 1928 Around this time, he relocated to the city, continuing to speak publicly, usually on Broadway. In 1934 he began squatting in a condemned property on First Avenue; he died in 1938.
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