Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov, or Lenin (1870 - 1924), was the first president of the Soviet Union.- In 1898, Lenin married Nadezhda Krupskaya in Siberia where both had been exiled. They never had children.
- After exile in Siberia adopted the pseudonym "Lenin. The word Lenin is believed to derive from the Russian river Lena.
- Although Lenin and Stalin were political enemies already at the end of Lenin's life, Stalin created a cult around Lenin after his death to glorify the history of the revolution.
- St. Petersburg was known as Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, when it returned to its original name after the collapse of the communist regime.
- Alexander, Lenin's older brother, was arrested and executed in 1887 for his involvement in a plan to assassinate Emperor Alexander III.
- Lenin's grandfather on his mother's side, Srul Moishevich Blank, was a Jew, who changed his name to "Aleksandr Dmitrievich" when he abandoned Judaism for Christianity and thus pursued his medical career unimpeded.
- At his death, Lenin's brain was extracted before embalming his body. The Soviet rulers hired a well-known German neuroscientist, Oskar Vogt, to study Lenin's brain and locate the brain cells responsible for his genius.
- Lenin was characterized by his emotionless rationality.
- Lenin survived an assassination attempt in August 1918. In April 1922 one of the bullets of that attack was finally extracted from his neck.
- Before dying, Lenin noted the need for profound changes within the government. He also criticized several of the governing members, Stalin in particular.
Facts about Lenin
