The secret history of Monopoly: the capitalist board game’s leftwing origins. In 1903, a leftwing feminist called Lizzy Magie patented the board game that we now know as Monopoly – but she never gets the credit. Lizzy Magie, inventor of the Landlord’s Game, which we now know as Monopoly, in 1936. The secret history of Monopoly: the capitalist board game’s leftwing origins. In 1903, a leftwing feminist called Lizzy Magie patented the board game that we now know as Monopoly – but she never gets the credit. Now a new book aims to put that right.  Photograph: Anspach Archives.