This leader died 100 years ago this year, but he did not decay

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of the Russian Revolution, died in 1924, 100 years ago this year. But for all this time, his body has not (supposedly) decayed, but remains on display for public viewing in a mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square. How and why was the body preserved, and why does it hold an enduring fascination for Russians and foreign visitors? The answers can help us be alert to the manipulative tactics used by politicians in our own country and around the world.

24/7 Wall St. Perspectives

• Lenin brought the world’s first communist government to power in the world’s greatest country.
• Communist leaders embalmed him and turned him into a quasi-religious figure to increase their power and legitimacy.
• His body remains enshrined for public viewing today, against his last wishes, for the same reason.
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A college radical

Lenin around 1887, the year his brother was executed.

Lenin was born in 1870 into a minor noble family, conservative and loyal to the monarchy. His brother Aleksandr became radicalized from reading left-wing literature while studying at the University of St. Petersburg. Convicted of plotting to kill the Tsar, he was executed by hanging in 1887. Lenin, in turn, began to explore revolutionary ideas in college and fell in love with Marxism.

The Russian Revolution

Lenin circa 1917, the year he returned to Russia to lead the Revolution.

After graduation, Lenin began organizing revolutionary cells in St. Petersburg. He was arrested and spent three years in exile in Siberia. During World War I, he traveled to Europe to discuss Marxist theory and plans for revolution with other leftists.

Starving and overworked in the military effort of World War I, the Russians revolted against Czar Nicholas I in February 1917 and forced him to abdicate his throne. Lenin returned to Russia to agitate for the overthrow of the Provisional Government that replaced the monarchy. This was achieved in October 1917 and Lenin, as the most open and active of the “Bolshevik” movement, became the leader of the nation.

Lenin’s policies

Food distribution to Russian citizens at the end of the Russian Civil War.

As Russia’s leader, one of Lenin’s first acts was to agree to peace terms with Germany, which ceded vast areas of Russian European territory and allowed the country to focus on its domestic problems. Counter-revolutionary forces fought the Communists in the Russian Civil War with the help of American and European troops. The effort was futile, however, and Lenin consolidated his power by 1920. He introduced radical reforms, including collectivized agriculture, but when his policies caused mass starvation, he had to backtrack and allow more private economic activity.

Death and last wishes

Lenin with his successor, Joseph Stalin.

Lenin suffered three strokes and died at the age of 53 in 1923. Before his death, he left behind assessments of the two main contenders for leadership after him: Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Lenin favored Trotsky, but Stalin was more skillful and brutal in domestic politics and managed to take control of the country. One of Lenin’s last requests was to be buried next to his mother in St. Petersburg.

Lenin as a Messiah figure

A large image of Lenin stands watch over a May Day military parade in Red Square.

Stalin had other plans for Lenin’s remains. He chose to have a team of embalmers use a secret process to preserve the body and built an air-conditioned mausoleum for him in Red Square, just outside the Kremlin walls. Lenin’s image became ubiquitous on posters, stamps, medals and other art. He was often depicted in place of the sun, shining over Russia. The government promoted slogans such as “Lenin lived, Lenin lives, Lenin will live” that positioned him as a messiah figure with metaphorical immortality. There have even been stories of Russian homes where the traditional religious icon of a saint that family members prayed to was replaced with a photo of Lenin – sometimes with a similar level of religious veneration.

The current state of Lenin’s remains

Lenin’s mausoleum is still open to the public today.

Teams of specialists have maintained Lenin’s body for the past century. The process is mysterious, but it is known that he has to do repair work from time to time to make the remains look as much as possible the day he died. Russian and international visitors sometimes wait hours in line to see Lenin, but once inside, guards keep the line moving quickly. The interior is dark, with spotlights focused on Lenin’s face behind thick glass. Some visitors report that he has a yellowish cast and have wondered if it is really his body or a wax replica. Without closer examination, it is impossible to say.

Post-communist leaders

Current Russian leader Vladimir Putin is trying to win the support of older Russians by appealing to Soviet-era values.

After the fall of communism in Russia in 1991, statues of Lenin and other communist leaders were removed in many cities, and the names of places and streets honoring them were changed. Many people called for Lenin’s last wish to be buried next to his mother to be honored. Boris Yeltsin and other post-communist leaders did not accede to these demands, however, because there were still so many elderly and former communists who would resent such an action. The political cost seemed greater than the benefit. Vladimir Putin has shown no interest in restoring communist ideology, but has tried to align himself with the country’s powerful past as the Soviet Union and be seen as a successor to the country’s national heroes. So he is not inclined to bury Lenin either.

Will Lenin ever be buried?

Skyscrapers in the new business district of Moscow. Keeping a corpse exposed for public viewing seems incompatible with this modernity.

In fact, it is quite likely that Lenin is buried. . . one day. For now, it is still useful to Russian leaders right where they are. But in the future, as his legacy and the system he created fades, keeping his body on display will likely be seen as morbid and wrong. This will be the time when the long-standing cult of Lenin, along with Lenin himself, will finally be buried.

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