Donnelly, Ignatius (1831-1901), was an American politician, reformer, and author who helped form the Populist Party. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1869 as a Republican congressman from Minnesota. He later quit the party and successively joined several others before becoming a Populist.
Donnelly wrote the preamble of the Populist Party platform in 1892 (see Populism). He charged that American society was becoming divided into two classes—tramps and millionaires. In 1900, Donnelly ran unsuccessfully as the Populist vice presidential candidate.
Donnelly was born on Nov. 3, 1831, in Philadelphia, and moved to Minnesota in 1857. He wrote several books. His novel Caesar’s Column (1890) criticizes capitalism by portraying a future society of downtrodden people ruled by a ruthless wealthy class. He died on Jan. 1, 1901.
