1818 Karl Marx born in Trier, Rheinish Prussia, in a petty-bourgeois family. His father, Heinrich Marx, is a a highly educated, cultured and freethinking lawyer.
1978 Laetitia Casta born in Port au de Mer, Corsica, the French-colonized Mediterranean island best known as the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. She has light brown hair and blue eyes.
1821 Karl (3) is raised in Trier, where his playmate is a beautiful girl named Jenny.
1981 According to her official biography, Laetitia (3) is raised between Normandy and Corsica, “in the middle of an animal-filled forest.” Several years later she would confess to Elle magazine that “I tell people that my breasts are ‘Made in Normandy,’ from butter and creme fraiche!”
1824 Karl’s (6) Jewish family converts to Protestanism.
1984 Laetitia (6) begins to practice judo (she would go on to achieve a brown belt in the martial art).
1830 Karl (12) becomes interested in the condition of the local peasants. He regularly makes excursions to the surrounding villages and thoroughly familiarizes himself with the life of field workers. Years later, he would exhibit this knowledge of the details of peasant life and industry in his writings.
1990 Laetitia (12) reaches puberty. By the end of this hormonal struggle, her “bust-waist-hips” measurements would become 88-60-88 or 34*-23*-34* (in centimeters and inches respectively; France, like most Latin countries, favors the metric system). Her height would eventually be 5’ 8".
1833 Karl (15) stands out as one of the most capable students in his high school. He is given an assignment to write a composition on “How Young Men Choose a Profession” and proceeds to prove that there can be no free choice of a profession, that man is born into circumstances which predetermine his choice, for they mold his “weltanschauung.” Here one may discern the germ of the Materialist Conception of History.
1993 Laetitia (15) is discovered while holidaying at Calvi, Corsica, by a scout of the Madison agency. Other sources specify that she was “discovered by a photographer while laying on a beach with her family.”
1834 Karl (16) completes his high school course, and the following year enters the University of Bonn. He becomes a follower of Hegelian philosophy.
1994 While on a trip to Paris shortly after, Paul Marciano selects Laetitia (16) to make her debut with GUESS in an advertising campaign shot by Neil Kirk in Jamaica. She becomes a GUESS Girl.
1836 Karl (18) travels to Berlin to continue his studies. His mentor, Ludwig Feuerbach, returns to the university for the first time since he had been deprived of his chair in 1832. Feuerbach begins to criticize theology, making explicit his turn to materialism. After his birthday, Karl becomes engaged to childhood friend Jenny.
1996 Laetitia’s (18) latest GUESS campaign, “Stretch,” is shot by photographer Dewey Nicks, in beautiful Palm Springs and Laguna Beach, CA. She lives in Paris with her family. She participates in fashion shows by Christian Lacroix and Vivienne Westwood. She also appears in the covers of Cosmopolitan (US and Italy), Elle (Australia, France, Greece, Italy and Hong Kong), Glamour, Mademoiselle and Seventeen. Chosen Yahoo! Model of the Month. Later that year, Laetitia begins shooting pictures for the Victoria’s Secret catalog.
1837 Karl (19) struggles with his parents, who oppose the engagement of a young man of his age. The wedding date is fixed for 1843, a long seven years in the future, but, as he later would write, “they seemed but so many days to me, because I loved her so much.” Having played together as children and become engaged as a young man and girl, the couple “would go hand in hand through the battle of life.”
1997 Laetitia (19) appears in the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated. She participates in fashion shows by Junko Shimada, Lolita Lempicka, Vivienne Westwood and Jean-Paul Gaultier. She also endorses products by Brunello Cucinelli Cashmere, Chanel , Dana B. and Karen, Escada Sport, Federica, Giorgio Armani, Isaac Mizrahi, J.Crew, Pantene, Ralph Lauren and Victoria’s Secret. Featured on the covers of Cosmopolitan (US, Australia, Spain), Elle (Australia, France), Glamour, Mademoiselle and Marie Claire (France, US).
1839 Karl (21) continues studying in Berlin.
1999 Laetitia (21) plays the role of Falbala in the French superproduction “Astérix et Obélix,” based on the famous comic book by the Belgian team Uderzo – Goscinny. Falbala is a beautiful blond-haired Gaul, who asks Astérix and Obélix to bring back her lover who has been captured by the Romans. Assouline (French publisher) releases a book about Laetitia. Asked by Elle magazine to disclose her beauty secrets, Laetitia replies, “The products I use are not necessarily the same brand. They happen to suit my hair, or my face, and they are generally very ordinary. To remove makeup, I use a baby bath lotion, which I buy at the pharmacy. I apply it to my face with a very pure, soft cotton wool, the usual cotton pads for removing makeup literally scratch my face! My skin tends to get dry, so I apply a very light cream, by Avene. For my lips, which are also often dry, I use a cream which contains vitamin A. Also, I always carry a spray bottle of Evian spring water.”
1840 Karl (22) continues studying in Berlin.
2000 Laetitia (22) is chosen as the new “Marianne” for the millennium. The bust of “Marianne,” the embodiment of revolutionary ideals of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” can be found in all French city halls. Later, scandal erupts when it is revealed that Laetitia actually declares London as her permanent residence for tax purposes. Much non-fraternal, nationalistic slurs are exchanged between France and the UK.
[To be continued]