Presidential Library’s new digital collection marking Vladimir Lenin’s birthday

April 22, 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of a Soviet statesman, creator of the first socialist state in history, the first chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Ulyanov). Presidential Library’s portal features a new electronic collection, which includes Lenin’s oeuvre, the works of his associates, research, archival documents and visual materials.

Vladimir Lenin was born into the family of Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov, a Russian teacher and enlightener, who was granted the title of nobility for his many services, and Maria Alexandrovna Blank, a home teacher. Presidential Library’s portal provides a copy of the 30-volume edition of the works of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin in 1926. Here is how he himself described the atmosphere prevailing in his father’s house: “The family was dominated by a motley-cultural spirit that had developed under the clear influence of the ideas of the sixties. The political restraint of the older generation was combined with energetic and selfless work to educate the people, which left a significant mark both among the peasantry of the Simbirsk province and among the young generation of teachers”.

The main person for young Volodya was the elder brother Alexander, one of the founders and leaders of the revolutionary organization “Narodnaya Volya”. It was he who became a kind of conductor of ideas, a “guiding star” for his younger brother: “Alexander Ilyich was distinguished by outstanding abilities that opened him a broad scientific path, but he was passionately interested in the social life of students, and in the last year of his stay at the university he became one of the most prominent members of the terrorist circle that was planning to repeat March 1, 1881 and prepared an attempt on the assassination of Alexander III... ".

Assessing Lenin’s words and deeds, many historians agree that in many respects they were dictated by the terrible loss. An associate of the leader Lev Kamenev in his 1924 speech noted: “There is no doubt that the execution of his elder brother made a strong impression on Vladimir Ilyich and that his thought should have worked in a certain direction. He had to pose and put before himself the question: where are the forces, based on which one could triumphantly end the struggle against the autocracy?”

In the memoirs of contemporaries, Vladimir Ulyanov is presented as a person of a lively, subtle mind, endowed with unique leadership qualities, a brilliant orator. The first volume of the collected works of Lenin provides the memoirs of the famous Russian publicist Vasily Vodovozov. He shares his impressions of the meeting with 20-year-old Vladimir Ilyich: “In matters of political economy and the history of him (Lenin), knowledge was striking in solidity and versatility, especially for a person of his age. He read German, French and English fluently, even then he knew Capital well and extensive Marxist literature (German) and made an impression of a man who was politically complete and formed. He declared himself a convinced Marxist... Of course, I did not foresee the role that he was destined to play, but even then I was convinced and openly spoke about this, that the role of Ulyanov would be large”.

Presidential Library’s portal presents unique newsreel footage of those times. This is, for example, Vladimir Lenin’s speech on the goals and objectives of the revolution.

Vladimir Lenin has always been treated differently: he had both supporters and opponents. The Presidential Library’s new collection includes official materials about the investigation of the high-profile assassination attempt on Lenin, which was carried out by Fanny Kaplan on August 30, 1918, trying to shoot the leader. In particular, these are genuine documents of a criminal case stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation. They include testimonies, a description and photographs of investigative experiments, bulletins on the state of health of Vladimir Ilyich, directives of the manager of the Council of People's Commissars, Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich.

Few people know, but Vladimir Ilyich was the victim of another crime. One can learn about it thanks to the virtual tour of the exhibition The Saving Sword of the Revolution: Chekist in Life, Cinema and Literature, which is available in the building of the Presidential Library. It presented the materials of the case about the attack, which was investigated by the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage in the summer of 1919: “When Lenin drove along Sokolniki, not far from the Sokolniki Council building, the bandits stopped the car and robbed Lenin, having taken the documents, the revolver that was with him”, we learn from the report of the head of the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department, comrade Trepalov. “Looking through documents and learning that the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars has just been robbed, Koshelkov turned the car back to catch V. I. Lenin and kill him. Fortunately, V. I. Lenin at that time went into the building of the Sokolniki Council and was out of danger”. Then the gang of Koshelko again managed to avoid arrest. But soon the criminals were discovered by the KGB and eliminated during detention.

The activities of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin are spotlighted in other electronic collections of the Presidential Library. Thus, the collection Constitution - Basic Law contains a digital version of the main document of the RSFSR of 1918. Vladimir Ilyich himself took part in its development.