OWEN, ROBERT

born May 14, 1771, Newtown, Montgomeryshire, Wales died Nov. 17, 1858, Newtown Welsh manufacturer turned reformer, one of the most influential utopian socialists of the early 19th century. His New Lanark mills in Lanarkshire, with their social and industrial welfare programs, became a place of pilgrimage for statesmen and social reformers. He also sponsored or encouraged many experimental utopian communities, including one at New Harmony, Ind., U.S. Additional reading Lives of Owen include Frank Podmore, Robert Owen: A Biography, 2 vol. (1906, reprinted 1971); and G.D.H. Cole, The Life of Robert Owen, 3rd ed. (1965). Other discussions of Owen and his ideas may be found in Margaret Cole, Robert Owen of New Lanark (1953, reissued 1969); J.F.C. Harrison, Quest for the New Moral World (also published as Robert Owen and the Owenites in Britain and America, 1969); John Butt (ed.), Robert Owen (1971), a collection of essays; and Karen Caplan Altfest, Robert Owen as Educator (1977).