apparently, hegel's last words were something like "only one man has
ever understood me, and he didn't understand me."  who was the person
that hegel was referring to?

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 07 Jul 2006 13:16 PDT

The answer to your question may never be known for sure but it is
believed that the man was Karl Marx:

"Hegel himself is reported to have said, "Only one man has understood
me, and even he has not!" Marx contended that he was the one man who
understood Hegel, and claimed that Hegel did not understand himself."
THE SCHWARZ REPORT
http://www.schwarzreport.org/SchwarzReport/2001/september01.html

Does this answer your question as well as possible under the circumstances?

tutuzdad-ga

Certainly Hegel was not referring to Marx, who was only a late
teenager when Hegel died.

I would support Marx's statement.  A philosophical group I know was
for years (is still?) reading and talking about Hegel's works.  If you
are curious why, glance at "Hegel's Legacy" on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegel

The German Wikipedia has a section on Hegel's language, pointing out
that he stretched the bounds of the grammar, using the more demanding
Greek grammar in German.

Sorry about the delay.  I say this info's worth $3.  Please post it as
an answer so's I can reimburse you.  Best, Chris