Pseudonyms V.I. Lenin
I.N. Volper
Pseudonyms V.I. LENIN
“Pseudonym” (ψεuδωνuμoξ) is a Greek word and means “fictitious name.” But in practice, the content of this concept is somewhat narrowed. Usually, only those fictitious names that writers, journalists and public figures choose for their appearances in print are called pseudonyms.
In this book we will talk about the pseudonyms of V.I. Lenin in the broad sense of the word, that is, not only about his literary pseudonyms, but also about party nicknames, secret surnames and even humorous nicknames. By the way, in the life of Vladimir Ilyich it happened more than once that party nicknames and secret surnames became literary pseudonyms. And, besides, a party nickname is nothing more than an oral pseudonym.
The author, of course, does not at all pretend to be categorical in his judgments, to provide a complete and exhaustive solution to the question of the origin and history of this or that Leninist pseudonym. In some cases, other interpretations are possible, and sometimes the object of analysis could be a pseudonym taken by Vladimir Ilyich completely by accident. However, V.I. Lenin’s deep philological knowledge and his excellent sense of words suggest that most of the pseudonyms he chose have very definite, specific etymological roots.
In a word, these notes represent only searches, and in some cases - guesses and assumptions. In general, the topic still awaits in-depth research.
The author expresses deep gratitude to Doctor of Historical Sciences E. A. Korolchuk, Candidate of Philological Sciences I. F. Kovalev, senior researchers at the Institute of Marxism-Leninism D. S. Kislik and R. M. Savitskaya and writer L. V. Uspensky for valuable comments and the advice they gave in preparing the manuscript for publication.
OWNER OF HUNDRED NAMES
The greatest man of our time is known by millions of people around the world under one name. This name is Lenin!
Lenin himself wrote in an autobiographical sketch in May 1917: “My name is Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov.”* 1
Yes, Lenin’s real surname (on his father’s side) was, as you know, Ulyanov, and Lenin- this is one of his pseudonyms.
While engaged in revolutionary work in Tsarist Russia or while in exile, Vladimir Ilyich was forced to hide his real name for the sake of conspiracy. After all, the Tsarist secret police, the German gendarmerie, and the English police were all at the same time in the fight against the revolutionaries.
And Lenin, from the first steps of his revolutionary activity, became an irreconcilable enemy of the tsarist autocracy. It is not without reason that even then, at the very beginning of this century, the head of the Moscow secret police, gendarme Colonel Zubatov, reported to his superiors that “there is no one larger than Ulyanov in the revolution now,” and suggested that the police department quickly “cut this head off the revolutionary body.” 2
In such conditions, fictitious names helped Vladimir Ilyich confuse police agents and detectives and made it possible, in the difficult conditions of underground and emigration, to carry out great party and literary work, to publish more and more new works.
Only after the Great October Socialist Revolution, when Vladimir Ilyich became the head of the Soviet government, did he begin to sign all official documents with his real name. But he became so familiar with his pseudonym that even then he usually signed himself: V. Ulyanov (Lenin). We will see this double signature of Lenin on his party card, and under the decrees of the Council of People's Commissars, and on the resolutions of the Council of Labor and Defense, and in other documents of state importance.
It is interesting to note that Vladimir Ilyich still signed his literary works, party documents, letters and notes with the pseudonym “Lenin”. So, for example, on the cover of the book “The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky,” published in 1918, it is not V. Ulyanov (Lenin), but, on the contrary, N. Lenin (Vl. Ulyanov).
Well, until 1917, Vladimir Ilyich was known more by his pseudonyms than by his real name. As a rule, he signed all his works with pseudonyms.
What pseudonyms did Vladimir Ilyich have? How did he choose them? What is their origin?
The first question is not difficult to answer. In 1963, the book “Auxiliary Indexes to the Chronological Index of V. I. Lenin’s Works” was published, which lists all currently known pseudonyms of V. I. Lenin. An incomplete list of Lenin’s pseudonyms was also published in the famous “Dictionary of pseudonyms of Russian writers, scientists and public figures,” compiled by I. F. Masanov. 3
Vladimir Ilyich signed his writings, letters and notes with literary pseudonyms, secret surnames, party nicknames, and individual letters...
The mentioned reference book “Auxiliary Indexes...” lists 148 different pseudonyms of V. I. Lenin.**
Even if we exclude from this list different variants of the same pseudonym, associated with the peculiarities of the transcription of a particular language, and discard various abbreviations, there will still be about a hundred original and non-repetitive pseudonyms. One hundred names of one person!
In all likelihood, these are not all the pseudonyms of Vladimir Ilyich. Unknown or considered lost works of Lenin are still being found, and new pseudonyms are being discovered. One might think that when the publication of the Complete Works of V.I. Lenin is completed, then, apparently, a relatively complete dictionary and index of pseudonyms will be compiled.
But it’s one thing to reveal a pseudonym, another thing to answer the questions: how did it come about? How did Vladimir Ilyich choose pseudonyms? After all, more than forty years have passed since Lenin is no longer with us. His closest relatives, many friends and associates died long ago. And, of course, it is difficult (and sometimes impossible) to establish why Vladimir Ilyich signed one or another of his works one way and not another.
Meanwhile, it is very interesting and fascinating to trace the history and fate of each Leninist pseudonym, each of his party nicknames. After all, everything connected with the name of Lenin has always been and will be infinitely dear and important to us!
The practical side of this issue is that knowledge of Lenin’s pseudonyms sometimes allows us to establish his authorship and find new works that were previously considered anonymous. And, as the experience of recent years shows, there are still many such “anonymous” works written by Lenin.
*See Appendix 3.
** It is appropriate to note that in the bibliographic index to the XX (additional) volume of the first edition of the Collected Works of V.I. Lenin, only 66 pseudonyms are listed. In less than forty years, an additional 82 pseudonyms have been identified.
THE VERY FIRST
What was Vladimir Ilyich’s first pseudonym? If we strictly adhere to chronology, then we must say that this first pseudonym is not, and cannot be, in any reference book.
Vladimir Ilyich’s elder sister, A.I. Ulyanova-Elizarova, writes about Lenin’s very first pseudonym in her memoirs. It's about a pseudonym Kubyshkin, which Volodya Ulyanov came up with for himself at the age of... nine years.
It is known that in the Ulyanov family, children spent a lot of time reading books. From an early age, their father and mother instilled in them a love of literature, music, and art. In the Ulyanovs' house they often read aloud wonderful works of Russian literature and recited poetry; sang songs. Anna Ilyinichna once noted in poetic form the great passion of the children of the Ulyanov family for books.
This poem contained the following lines:
And while reading, serious
A circle has gathered.
Everyone is sitting with their eyes buried in books,
Everyone is strictly silent.
At least Manyushin's little eyes
They want to sleep painfully... 1
It was in this atmosphere that the idea of creating your own home handwritten journal was born in this wonderful family. The initiator of the idea was his older brother, Alexander Ulyanov.
Planned - done. The editor of the magazine was Sasha Ulyanov, the literary critic was sister Anna, and the permanent literary collaborators were nine-year-old Volodya and seven-year-old Olya. It was in this magazine that V.I. Lenin’s first pseudonym appeared - “Kubyshkin”.
Here is what A.I. Ulyanova-Elizarova writes about this: “...Both of them (Volodya and Olya - I.V.) took up the matter very willingly, inventing literary pseudonyms for themselves: Volodya (quite stocky in those years boy) called himself Kubyshkin, Olya, nicknamed a monkey for her agility and liveliness, called herself Monkeykov.” 2
So, it becomes clear why Volodya chose the pseudonym “Kubyshkin”. In the well-known explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, Vladimir Dahl gives the second, figurative, meaning of the word “little egg”: “a dense little man, a fat man, especially a child.” That's the whole point! As we see, even in his childhood, Lenin was no stranger to a sense of humor, a desire for a good-natured joke at the expense of himself.
Of course, this children's comic pseudonym has nothing to do with the literary or party revolutionary activities of V. I. Lenin.
Vladimir Ilyich's first real pseudonym was the surname Tulin(more precisely - K. Tulin). With this pseudonym, Vladimir Ilyich signed one of his first scientific works - “The Economic Content of Populism and Its Criticism in the Book of Mr. Struve,” published in 1895. Lenin’s article was published in the collection “Materials for Characteristics of Our Economic Development.” The collection suffered a sad fate: the tsarist censorship saw in it a “harmful direction”, it was confiscated and burned. Of the two thousand copies, only about a hundred survived, which were distributed illegally. The ban on the collection was largely due to an article by K. Tulin, which seemed “harmful and dangerous” to the censor.
But who Tulin was - not only the censors, but even many of Vladimir Ilyich’s inner circle did not know this then.
A very interesting episode occurred during a meeting between Vladimir Ilyich and P. B. Axelrod, who, like everyone else, paid special attention to K. Tulin’s article.
To Vladimir Ilyich’s question: “Have you looked at the collection?”, Axelrod replied: “Yes, I must say that I had great pleasure... Tulin’s article made a particularly good impression on me...” 3 Axelrod did not even suspect that “Tulin” himself "was his interlocutor at that time!
According to the old Bolshevik Ts. S. Zelikson (Bobrovskaya), Tulin’s article was a great holiday for genuine Marxists. But Zelikson did not know who the real author of the article was.
But why did Lenin choose the pseudonym “Tulin” for himself? It's difficult to answer this question. Let us make this assumption. In the Russian language there is an outdated and now almost never used word “tulit”. From it comes the reflexive verb “tulitsya”, which means: to hide, to bury, to take cover.
Vladimir Dal also cites another derivative of this verb, the word “tula”; he explains it this way: a secretive, inaccessible place.
Vladimir Ilyich, with his deep knowledge of the Russian language, was, of course, aware of these words.
So, perhaps, while engaging in illegal activities and choosing a pseudonym for himself, he settled on the word that most accurately expressed the essence and meaning of the pseudonym, that is, secrecy, secrecy? If we agree with this assumption and proceed from the verb “toulit” or “tulitsya”, then the surname Tulin can be interpreted as follows: “secret”, “secret”, “underground”. This was quite consistent with V.I. Lenin’s illegal situation at that time.
Or maybe the pseudonym “Tulin” is derived from the name of the city of Tula? Such surnames, formed from the names of cities, are not uncommon in Russian onomastics**.
Of course, both are just guesses.
Vladimir Ilyich resorted to the pseudonym “Tulin” quite often at that time. Among the works written in 1894 - 1897, you can find articles signed like this: K. T - n, K. T., T - in, T. It is quite obvious that all these pseudonyms are abbreviations of the same surname Tulin.
* Manyusha - Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova, Lenin's younger sister.
** Onomastics is the science of proper names and surnames.
"Petersburg" vs. "V.V."
Here
every stone
Lenina knows...
V. Mayakovsky
These inspired words spoken by the poet about Moscow can equally be applied to St. Petersburg - Petrograd.
Petersburg has always been beautiful, glorified by Pushkin. More than once, of course, Ilyich wandered along its wonderful embankments, admiring Falconet’s immortal creation, the classical ensemble of Palace Square, the wonderful Felten lattice of the Summer Garden and other magnificent architectural monuments.
But Lenin also knew another Petersburg - the Petersburg that stretched beyond the Nevskaya and Moscow outposts, the Petersburg of slums and factory barracks, the dilapidated houses of the Shlisselburg tract, the smoky masses of factory buildings.
It was for this reason - the outlying, working-class Petersburg - that he came here...
Many outstanding events in the life of V.I. Lenin are associated with St. Petersburg. Here he laid the foundation for the creation of a Marxist workers' party in Russia. From Red Peter, Vladimir Ilyich led the struggle of the proletariat during the first Russian revolution. The Great October Socialist Revolution began in Petrograd under his leadership. Here, finally, Vladimir Ilyich headed the first workers' and peasants' government in history and laid the foundations of the Soviet socialist state...
More than two hundred memorial places in Leningrad are associated with the life and work of V.I. Lenin. And, of course, it is no coincidence that in 1924, immediately after the death of Lenin, the Second All-Union Congress of Soviets decided to rename Petrograd to Leningrad. “Let from now on,” said the resolution of the congress, “this largest center of the proletarian revolution will forever be associated with the name of the greatest of the leaders of the proletariat, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin).” 1
For over four decades, Leningrad has carried its great and glorious name with honor...
But let's turn the pages of history and recall the events of the nineties of the last century.
Vladimir Ilyich first came to St. Petersburg in August 1890, and three years later he settled here permanently. On August 31, 1893, he became a St. Petersburg resident.
In our story, the word “Petersburger” will mean not only a resident of St. Petersburg. In the biography of V.I. Lenin, it also became his party nickname, just as the surname Tulin was his first literary pseudonym.
About the circumstances related to the party nickname " Petersburger“, says V.D. Bonch-Bruevich in his memoirs, who later became Vladimir Ilyich’s closest assistant and employee - the first Manager of the Council of People’s Commissars. 2
Having met Anna Ilyinichna Ulyanova-Elizarova in Moscow in 1893, Bonch-Bruevich often heard stories from her about the young and talented Marxist “Petersburger,” whom no one in Moscow knew at that time.
In January 1894, an unknown young man came to an illegal meeting in Moscow, held under the guise of a student party.
At the gathering that evening, one of the ideologists of populism, Vasily Pavlovich Vorontsov, known under the pseudonym “V. IN.".
He easily defeated the young Marxists who opposed him and, together with his like-minded people, celebrated victory. But then a young stranger asked to speak. At first, the venerable speaker looked condescendingly at his opponent with an ironic smile. However, he, with all the fervor of his youth, armed with weighty arguments and convincingly selected statistical data, smashed to smithereens all the theories of the populist “leader.”
After the “party” everyone asked who this “daring opponent” was who dared to speak out against V.V. himself? The answer was short: “Petersburger.”
But who “Petersburger” is continued to remain a mystery.
And only in 1895, when V. I. Lenin’s famous work “What are “friends of the people” and how do they fight against the Social Democrats?” was published, it became clear that its author and “daring opponent” who spoke out in Moscow against V. V., the same person.
To Bonch-Bruevich’s suggestion about this, Anna Ilyinichna replied with a smile:
Yes, you guessed it... It's the same person.
What the Moscow Marxists did not yet know in 1894, the Moscow police, however, already knew. This is what the Moscow police chief reported to the police department about the “party” at which “Petersburgets” performed:
“The well-known founder of the theory of populism, writer “V.”, who was present at the evening. IN." (doctor Vasily Pavlovich Vorontsov) forced Davydov* into silence with his argumentation, so that the defense of the latter’s views was taken over by a certain Ulyanov (allegedly the brother of the hanged man), who carried out this defense with full knowledge of the matter.” 3
Many years later, the secret nickname “Petersburger” became the literary pseudonym of Vladimir Ilyich. In December 1911, Lenin’s article “Three Requests” was published in the Marxist magazine “Prosveshchenie”, under which was signed: “Petersburger”. Another Leninist article was published in the same issue, signed: P. It is likely that this is the first letter of the same nickname.
* Davydov Iosif Mordukhovich, a student at Yuryev University, a Marxist who objected to Vorontsov at the party.
PARTY NAME OR JOKE?
“Petersburger” was not the only party nickname for Vladimir Ilyich at that time. M. A. Silvin talks about one interesting nickname in his memoirs. 1
Members of the Marxist circle of students at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology (Radchenko’s circle), which Vladimir Ilyich joined upon his arrival in St. Petersburg, decided to come up with secret nicknames for each other. Thus, G. M. Krzhizhanovsky was called “Gopher”, P. K. Zaporozhets - “Hutsul”, V. V. Starkov - “Strawberry”. Vaneev and Silvin (both Nizhny Novgorod residents) - “Minin and Pozharsky”, etc.
More than once these nicknames of young revolutionaries came to the rescue. In less than two years, Vladimir Ilyich will use these half-joking, half-secret nicknames for his own purposes.
It is known that in December 1895 Lenin was arrested and placed in a pre-trial detention center. Once in prison, Vladimir Ilyich remained keenly interested in everything that was happening outside. He was especially concerned about the fate of his friends in the Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class. But how to find out about this, how to deceive the vigilance of the jailers?
And so Lenin compiles a long list of literature, and between the titles of the books he really needs, he skillfully interweaves some titles, which he accompanies with small question marks. From these question marks, Lenin's relatives and friends guessed that he did not need these books at all, and the questions related to those who were hiding behind the book titles.
Thus, a question mark against the title of the book by historian Kostomarov “Heroes of Troubled Times” meant the question: “What about Minin and Pozharsky?”, that is, with Vaneev and Silvin. Brem’s book “On Small Rodents” definitely hinted at G. M. Krzhizhanovsky, because it was he who bore the nickname “Gopher.” And the request for Main-Read’s book “Lamprey” meant N.K. Krupskaya, since she had the nicknames “Fish” or “Lamprey”. 2
Vladimir Ilyich in Radchenko’s circle was also “baptized” with a humorous nickname... “ Tyapkin-Lyapkin».
Remember the judge from N.V. Gogol’s immortal comedy “The Inspector General”? True, Gogol’s character is called somewhat differently: not Tyapkin-Lyapkin, but Lyapkin-Tyapkin. Either Vladimir Ilyich deliberately, in order to emphasize the humorous nature of the nickname, turned this surname in his own way, or Silvin forgot something.
Regarding the choice of this nickname, M. A. Silvin in his book notes in parentheses: “you come to everything with your own mind.” And in fact, the judge in “The Inspector General” once utters the following phrase about himself: “But I got there on my own, with my own mind!” This remark, apparently, served as the basis for Vladimir Ilyich’s circle comrades to give him the playful nickname “Tyapkin-Lyapkin.”
This nickname is characteristic in its own way. It speaks, firstly, of the sense of humor that was inherent in Lenin, and secondly, that this remark itself, even in the mouth of such a little-respected person as Lyapkin-Tyapkin, to some extent corresponded to one of ideological principles of Vladimir Ilyich “to reach everything with your own mind.” And in fact, his sharp critical mind, deep erudition, and great education allowed him to demonstrate amazing creative independence in solving the most complex issues of social life and science even at that time.
That's why the question is - a party nickname or a humorous nickname? - you can answer: both.
However, it should be noted that “Tyapkin-Lyapkin” was never the real pseudonym of Vladimir Ilyich.
NIKOLAY PETROVICH AND LAWYER ULYANOV
Arriving in St. Petersburg, Lenin, as is known, did not limit himself to participating in an underground Marxist circle, but immediately began widespread propaganda of Marxist ideas.
The advanced workers of St. Petersburg soon recognized and fell in love with the young propagandist - a stocky, short man, with a small reddish beard and surprisingly clear, penetrating eyes.
The workers called their propagandist Nikolai Petrovich. One of the participants in these circles, M. M. Bodrov, later recalled that the days of classes with “Nikolai Petrovich” were the best days of his life. He wrote: “Our eyes were opened. We felt that we were becoming lighter after talking with him” 1 .
But who “Nikolai Petrovich” really was, none of the circle participants knew. One day, when “Nikolai Petrovich” left after class, the circle members asked
organizer: “Who is he?” But the organizer of the circle, V. A. Knyazev, could not answer this question - he himself did not know the real name of the propagandist. The incident, however, allowed Knyazev to find out who “Nikolai Petrovich” was, and he subsequently spoke about this in his memoirs. 2
In 1893, Knyazev’s grandmother, who served with a general, died. To get the small inheritance left from her, it was necessary to go to court. His comrades advised Knyazev to enlist the help of a lawyer and recommended him to contact the assistant attorney at law, Ulyanov.
It is known that Vladimir Ilyich was a lawyer by training and in the first years after graduating from university he was engaged in advocacy.
Suspecting nothing, Knyazev headed to the address given to him, to house No. 7 on Bolshoi Kazachy Lane*.
He climbed the gloomy, dirty stairs to the third floor and called apartment No. 13. The owner of the apartment came out to answer the call. She said that Ulyanov was not at home, but he should come soon. Knyazev decided to wait and went into Ulyanov’s room. He was surprised by the extremely modest furnishings of the lawyer's apartment. An iron stove in the corner, a simple bed, a table with a kerosene lamp, two Viennese chairs and a bookcase - that’s all the furniture.
“He doesn’t live well!” - thought Knyazev. At this time the bell rang, and soon the owner himself entered the room.
Oh, are you already waiting? - he turned to Knyazev. - Well, just a minute: I’ll change clothes now, and we’ll get busy.
Knyazev looked carefully at the lawyer and was momentarily confused with surprise: “Nikolai Petrovich” stood in front of him.
So, who is lawyer Ulyanov?
Thus, the incognito identity of the young revolutionary propagandist was unexpectedly revealed.
It was here, in a modest apartment on Bolshoy Kazachy Lane, that “Nikolai Petrovich,” or, to put it more clearly, Vladimir Ilyich, wrote the above-mentioned article “The Economic Content of Populism and Its Criticism in Mr. Struve’s Book.” Here, in all likelihood, he came up with his first real pseudonym - Tulin.
If in the workers' circles of the St. Petersburg side Vladimir Ilyich was called Nikolai Petrovich, then on Vasilievsky Island he was known as Fedor Petrovich. Hence the abbreviated pseudonym “F.” found in the works of V.I. Lenin. P.".
It is apparently useless to try to find out the origin of these two party nicknames. Obviously, they arose completely by accident. Their main property is their mass appeal, but the very fact of the duality of party nicknames (in two regions they are different) speaks of their main purpose - to serve conspiracy. It is interesting to note something else: from these secret nicknames, more precisely, from their common patronymic (Petrovich), in all likelihood, one of Lenin’s pseudonyms originated - Petrov. The surname Petrov means the same thing as Petrovich, that is: son of Peter.
Now it can be considered established that even while using the party nickname “Nikolai Petrovich”, Vladimir Ilyich came up with the pseudonym “Petrov” for himself. This is evidenced by the memoirs of S. N. Motovilova, published relatively recently. 3
It turns out that back in 1895, while in Lausanne (Switzerland), Vladimir Ilyich, getting acquainted with the Motovilovs, introduced himself: “Petrov.”
A few years later, in 1900 - 1901, dozens of letters from Vladimir Ilyich were signed in Russian: “Petrov” or in Latin script: “Petroff”.
Subsequently, the surname Petrov was supplemented by a given name, and in Lenin’s writings one can find the pseudonym “ Iv. Petrov" The pseudonym “Petrov” had one very important advantage: it is a massive, very common surname in Russia and therefore did not attract attention.
* Nowadays Ilyich Lane.
YOUNG "OLD MAN"
Does it happen that a person who is not yet twenty-five years old is called an old man? Usually no, but when " Old man" is a party nickname or pseudonym, then this, of course, is quite possible.
If in workers’ circles in St. Petersburg Vladimir Ilyich was known as Nikolai Petrovich, if Muscovites called him “Petersburger,” then his friends and comrades in the St. Petersburg “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class” called him differently - “Old Man.” This was Lenin's party nickname in 1893-1895.
But why "Old Man"? This question is answered in his memoirs about V.I. Lenin by one of his closest comrades in the revolutionary struggle, and later a prominent statesman and academician G.M. Krzhizhanovsky.
“For his bare forehead and great erudition,” writes Krzhizhanovsky, “Vladimir Ilyich had to pay with the nickname “Old Man,” which was in the sharpest contrast with his youthful mobility and the youthful energy that was in full swing in him. But the deep knowledge with which this young man freely operated, that special tact and critical dexterity with which he approached life’s issues and the most diverse people, his extraordinary ability to place himself among the workers to whom he approached, as rightly noted Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, not as an arrogant teacher, but above all as a friend and comrade - all this firmly secured for him the nickname we invented.” 1
Ts. S. Zelikson (Bobrovskaya) recalled that, having arrived in her hometown of Velizh in 1896, she no longer heard about the “mysterious Tulin”, but “about the even more mysterious “Old Man”, who, in addition, is not an old man in years, but it’s called that for reasons of pure secrecy.” 2
Lenin's party nickname "Old Man" can often be found in revolutionary correspondence of those years. Subsequently, Vladimir Ilyich repeatedly used it as a pseudonym.
Many letters from that time have survived that begin with the words: (to such and such) from the Old Man. Here, for example, in February 1904, a letter to G. M. Krzhizhanovsky: “To Hans from the Old Man”; letter to L.B. Krasin (May 1904): “Personal from the Old Man Horse.”* In the same year, 1904, Lenin wrote a letter to the Central Committee of the Party and began it like this: “The Old Man writes.” The signature under the letter is the same: Old Man. He signed other letters (for example, to F.V. Lengnik, I.I. Skvortsov, etc.) as follows: “Your Old Man” or “All Your Old Man.” And on two letters (E.D. Stasova and F.V. Lengnik) in the same 1904, Vladimir Ilyich even signed this: “The Old Man and Co.”
Lenin did not forget this pseudonym of his two years later, upon returning to his homeland. This episode is interesting in this regard. At the end of 1906, while hiding at the Vasa dacha in Finland, Vladimir Ilyich once talked with S.V. Markov, who was then acting as a liaison between Lenin and the St. Petersburg party organization. Vladimir Ilyich gave the young party member to read Karl Liebknecht's pamphlet with his - Ilyich's - foreword. When Markov carefully read the preface, Lenin asked him:
Have you already read “The Old Man”?.. 3
Lenin called himself an old man.
It is interesting to note that this party nickname of Vladimir Ilyich became a household name in the nineties. According to it, the entire group of revolutionary Marxists headed by Lenin was then called “old people”, as opposed to the group of “young people” led by I.V. Chernyshev. A group of “young people” advocated opportunistic ideas.
And one more important point should be noted in connection with the pseudonym “Old Man”.
At the beginning of this book it was mentioned that the disclosure of pseudonyms sometimes helps to establish the authorship of V.I. Lenin. This exactly applies to the pseudonym “Old Man”.
In the 8th volume of the Complete Works of V.I. Lenin, a leaflet about the Russian-Japanese War entitled “To the Russian Proletariat” was published for the first time. 4 It was written in 1904 and published under the signature of the Central Committee. This leaflet has not yet been included in any of the collected works of V.I. Lenin, since it was not known exactly who its author was.
But relatively recently, while examining the unpublished letters of N.K. Krupskaya, researchers found a mention that “The Old Man will write about the war...”. In another letter (dated February 16, 1904), N.K. Krupskaya wrote to R.S. Zemlyachka and L.E. Galperin: “The old man wrote a leaflet about the war...” 5
And everything immediately became clear. The “old man” is Lenin! They compared the dates, compared the style of the leaflet with Ilyich’s style, and all doubts disappeared: the author of the leaflet was Vladimir Ilyich.
And how many more, perhaps, are there such anonymous articles, leaflets, proclamations written by Lenin! And maybe deciphering some other unknown pseudonym of Vladimir Ilyich will allow us to establish its authorship again and again?
Not a single Leninist document can or should remain anonymous! After all, everything that was created by the mighty genius of Lenin belongs to the entire people, to all humanity!
* Hans is Krzhizhanovsky’s pseudonym, Horse is Krasin’s secret nickname.
ILYIN - SON OF ILYA
Returning from exile at the beginning of 1900, Vladimir Ilyich stopped by Moscow. And immediately the head of the Moscow secret police, Zubatov, hastened to inform his superiors in St. Petersburg: “... A well-known representative of Marxism, Ulyanov, who has just served his term of exile in Siberia, has arrived in the local capital (under the pseudonym “Ilyin”).” 1
Zubatov was not mistaken. Nickname Ilyin- one of the most common among Lenin. It is also listed in the famous pre-revolutionary critical-biographical dictionary of S. A. Vengerov. In the first volume of this dictionary (1915 edition) you can read the following two lines: “Ilyin Vlad, famous economist and publicist. Pseudonym Ulyanov Vl. I. (Lenin).” 2
In any case, everyone who studies the works of V.I. Lenin has come across the pseudonym “Ilyin” more than once.
Back in November 1895, Vladimir Ilyich signed a letter to P.B. Axelrod from St. Petersburg to Zurich: “Yours Ilyin.” Under this name, a collection of articles by Vladimir Ilyich was published in 1898 under the general title “Economic Studies and Articles”, and in 1899 his classic work “The Development of Capitalism in Russia” was published.
A copy of the second edition of this book has been preserved, on the cover of which, next to the name and surname of the author (Vladimir Ilyin), printed in the printing house, Lenin himself wrote by hand in Latin letters: Uljanow (Ulyanov).
Pseudonym "V. Ilyin” is also signed by V.I. Lenin’s famous article “Karl Marx”, published in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Garnet brothers. 3
By the way, not so long ago, under curious circumstances, four letters from Lenin were found related to the preparation for publication of the article “Karl Marx” and signed: V. Ilyin. The circumstances of this find are as follows. In 1942, one of the publishers of the Encyclopedic Dictionary sold its extensive library to Moscow University. The books have arrived for delivery. One day, a reader opened an old book from this library and discovered the indicated letters.
When Vladimir Ilyich began to use another, his most famous pseudonym Lenin, he often added in parentheses: Ilyin. For example, on the cover of V. I. Lenin’s famous work “Imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism”* it says: “N. Lenin (Vl. Ilyin).”
It goes without saying that such abbreviated pseudonyms as V. I., V. I - n, V. Il., I., originated from the same pseudonym.
Where did the pseudonym “Ilyin” come from?
It is not difficult to guess that this is, in fact, a modified form of Lenin's patronymic. After all, Ilyin and Ilyich mean the same thing - the son of Ilya.
In a number of Lenin’s official documents from the end of the last century, this is what it says: Ulyanov Vladimir Ilyin. So, for example, a diploma of graduation from St. Petersburg University begins with the words: “The bearer of this, Vladimir Ilyin Ulyanov...” And Vladimir Ilyich himself, on a petition to allow him to take an exam for a law faculty course, signed: “Vladimir Ilyin Ulyanov.”
It is quite logical to assume that Lenin chose the pseudonym “Ilyin” based on his patronymic.
Living under this name, Vladimir Ilyich once put liberal-minded bourgeois professors in a very awkward position. It happened in Paris at the beginning of our century, during the years of Lenin’s first emigration. At that time there was a Russian Higher School of Social Sciences. The leaders of this school did not sympathize with the Social Democrats, but when they needed a lecturer on the agrarian issue, they decided to invite Ilyin, a famous Marxist theorist and author of a number of legal works on the agrarian issue. “Ilyin” accepted the invitation and began giving lectures on the topic “Marxist views on the agrarian question in Europe and Russia.” Imagine the surprise and confusion of the organizers of these lectures when it soon became clear that Ilyin and Lenin were one and the same person! 4
Lenin himself called himself Ilyin, but our people call him most of all Ilyich.
V.I. Lenin only once called himself Ilyich. This was literally on the eve of the October Uprising. Returning from Finland to Petrograd, Vladimir Ilyich illegally lived in the apartment of Margarita Vasilievna Fofanova on the Vyborg side. On the evening of October 24, having sent the owner of the apartment with an order to N.K. Krupskaya, Lenin went to Smolny and left the following note on the table: “I went where you didn’t want me to go. Goodbye. Ilyich." 5
Ilyich! With what warmth and tenderness do Soviet people pronounce this word. They put into it the entire depth of their feelings and love for the great teacher. Let us recall the widespread expression “Ilyich’s light bulb.” It seems that these words themselves emit a wonderful Leninist light!
It is not surprising that the word “Ilyich” not only names populated areas and urban areas, plants and factories, parks and clubs are named - Lenin’s patronymic also turned into his own male name. The writer Lev Uspensky says that he met a Komsomol member in Armenia whose name was Ilyich Petrosyan. And in Denmark, it turns out, there lives a poet with the same name. His name is Ilyich Johansen. 6
* This book was published in the summer of 1917 under a changed title: “Imperialism as the newest stage of capitalism.” The circumstances of the publication of this book by V.I. Lenin and the pseudonyms associated with it will be discussed below.
BASIC AND MAIN
Lenin's name is like a banner
burns with a scarlet flame.
Rasul Rza
At the beginning of our century, a work by Vladimir Ilyich was published, signed by the then new pseudonym Lenin. It was the article “Gr. "critics" on the agrarian issue. The first essay”, published in December 1901 in the magazine “Zarya”. This was the first time the name Lenin appeared on the pages of the revolutionary press.
True, even earlier, in January of the same 1901, Vladimir Ilyich signed a letter to G.V. Plekhanov from Munich with the pseudonym “Lenin”. 1
In any case, from the beginning of 1902 this pseudonym became the main and main pseudonym of Vladimir Ilyich.
We also find it in the already mentioned critical-biographical dictionary of S. A. Vengerov. The second volume (ed. 1916) of the dictionary says: “N. Lenin is a famous Marxist publicist, pseudonym of V. I. Ulyanov.” 2
In March 1902, Vladimir Ilyich’s famous book “What is to be done?” was published, on the cover of which was the author’s surname: Lenin.
This book aroused great interest among revolutionaries and workers in the labor movement. The tsarist police also became interested in her in their own way. Already at the beginning of April - less than a month after the book was published - the police department opened a special case against her, number 872.
In the “Memory Note” compiled by one of the police officials, you can read the following lines: “About a month ago, N. Lenin’s pamphlet, which caused a great sensation, appeared abroad... “What to do?”.” 3
However, Vladimir Ilyich’s new pseudonym initially confused the police’s cards. In the “Note” quoted above, after the words “N. Lenin’s pamphlet,” the compiler notes in parentheses: “the pseudonym of a member of the Iskra editorial board, Yuli Tsederbaum.”
The Tsarist police made a mistake in this case twice. The pseudonym "Lenin" never belonged to Zederbaum (later the leader of the Mensheviks, known by the pseudonym "Martov"). Well, besides, even then there were serious differences between Martov and Lenin in their views on the party and on the future of the Russian revolution.
Soon it became widely known to everyone who was really hiding under the pseudonym “Lenin”.
Speaking about the pseudonyms “Tulin” and “Old Man”, we have already twice had the opportunity to quote the memoirs of Zelikson (Bobrovskaya). Here is another excerpt from her book “Notes of an Underground Worker” regarding the pseudonym “Lenin”.
Here is what she writes about this: “Since 1895, for seven years - in Warsaw, Velizh, Zurich, Kharkov under different names - Tulin, “Old Man”, Ilyin, Petrov - the image of a teacher flashed before me. Only in the summer of 1902, when I read “What is to be done?” - a book that served us as such a wonderful guide to action - these names were concentrated in one thing - Lenin.” 4
Today we can say more: the name “Lenin” became not only the name of a person, but also became part of the name of a great teaching, the most militant, revolutionary teaching that transforms the world. Is there a country on earth now where the word “Leninism” is not known?!
The word “Lenin” has become synonymous with the word “party”. Remember how Mayakovsky wrote:
We say Lenin,
we mean -
We are speaking -
we mean -
Where did Lenin get his main pseudonym? This question has arisen more than once. Back in 1924, after the death of Vladimir Ilyich, the editors of the Moscow newspaper Komyacheyka turned to Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya for clarification. This is what she replied then: “Dear comrades! I don’t know why Vladimir Ilyich took the pseudonym “Lenin”; I never asked him about it. His mother's name was Maria Alexandrovna. The deceased sister's name was Olga. The Lena events took place after he took this pseudonym. He was not in exile on Lena. Probably the pseudonym was chosen by chance, like how Plekhanov once wrote under the pseudonym “Volgin.” 5 The same explanation was given by Vladimir Ilyich’s brother, Dmitry Ilyich Ulyanov. In the branch of the Central Museum of V.I. Lenin in the city of Ulyanovsk there is a recording of a conversation with him on this topic. Dmitry Ilyich said:
“It happened that Plekhanov took the surname Volgin, probably, and Vladimir Ilyich took Lenin along the river in Siberia.” 6 Psychologically, it is quite justified that the image of this mighty Siberian river could evoke the surname Lenin in the minds of Vladimir Ilyich. Besides, Lenin is a classic Russian surname; it simply and naturally fits into the pattern of Russian surnames. One might think that this is why the pseudonym “Lenin” became Vladimir Ilyich’s second surname.*
So, most likely, “Lenin” comes from the name of the Lena River. It is curious that, apparently without knowing or suspecting this, the Mexican poet Jose Muñoz Costa used the image of the Lena River in a poem dedicated to V. I. Lenin.
He wrote:
You have justified your name Lenin.
You have become Lena, a river full of water.
You were a powerful and free stream,
Fire of love and cutting metal.
It can also be assumed that the impetus for choosing the pseudonym “Lenin” was acquaintance with the works of the then famous agronomist and public figure S. N. Lenin. In his classic work “The Development of Capitalism in Russia” (1899), Vladimir Ilyich quotes this author’s article “Agricultural Implements and Machines.”
* Note that such surnames are not uncommon among Russians. Let us recall some well-known surnames from literature - Pechorin, Onegin, Nevsky, Tomsky and others, formed from the names of rivers. By the way, N.K. Krupskaya at one time lived in St. Petersburg using a false passport in the name of Onegina.
WHAT DOES THE LETTER "N" MEAN?
In connection with the pseudonym “Lenin” another question arises. Every attentive reader of the works of V. I. Lenin will certainly pay attention to the fact that before the revolution, Vladimir Ilyich signed not just Lenin, but N. Lenin. And after the revolution, the first edition of Vladimir Ilyich’s works was published under the following author’s title: “N. Lenin (V. Ulyanov).” What does the letter “N” mean here? Of course, this is the initial letter of the name, but which one?
This fact comes to mind. In 1921, the famous English writer and playwright Bernard Shaw sent V.I. Lenin one of his books with the following dedicatory inscription:
“Nicholas Lenin is the only statesman in Europe who has the talent, character and knowledge corresponding to his responsible position. June 16, 1921 From Bernard Shaw." 1
Bernard Shaw was not alone in calling Lenin Nikolai. The famous Czech poet Vitezslav Nezval once wrote a poem to which he gave the following title: “Proclamation of Nikolai Lenin.” This poem ended with these words: “Read its immortal lines - the proclamation of Nikolai Lenin!”
It should be noted that abroad in the twenties Lenin was often called Nikolai.
This name first appeared in the foreign press in 1919 under the following circumstances. In October 1919, Vladimir Ilyich gave an interview to a correspondent for the American newspaper The Chicago Daily News. Lenin’s answers were signed: “Wl. Oulianoff (N. Lenin),” and in this form this interview was published in our country. In the American newspaper of October 27, 1919, it is not “N. Lenin", and "Nikolai Lenin".
A similar story happened with Vladimir Ilyich’s preface to John Reed’s famous book “Ten Days That Shook the World.” Vladimir Ilyich signed this preface, as usual at that time: “N. Lenin." In the New York edition of the book (in 1922), under this preface there is a signature: “Nikolai Lenin.”
This mistake was then repeated in Literator magazine in an article about John Reed's book.
Vladimir Ilyich himself never signed himself “Nikolai Lenin,” and the editors of American publications did not, of course, have any right to arbitrarily, in their own way, reveal Lenin’s initial. It’s one thing when Shaw or Nezval wrote about Lenin, calling him Nikolai, it’s another thing when, without proper grounds, the choice of this name is attributed to Vladimir Ilyich himself.
But perhaps Lenin really took the initial of his secret party nickname “Nikolai Petrovich”? But, of course, an assumption is still far from proof.
PROUD NAME
A person’s name lives on even after his death. It lives in the deeds that a person left behind. If a person was a builder, the houses, public buildings, and structures he built remained. If he was a forester, then the trees he planted stand for decades, centuries, giving people beauty and coolness.
The name of Lenin - the great creator and transformer - remains for centuries and millennia. It lives in the names of cities and squares, canals and mountain peaks, factories and collective farms, universities and cultural centers - in a word, everywhere, throughout our large and multifaceted life.
The name of Lenin has crossed far beyond the borders of our Motherland. It travels around the world, knowing no boundaries, and calling people everywhere to fight, instilling in them hope for a better future.
The Italian writer Giovanni Germanetto in his “Notes of a Barber” said that he saw the name of Lenin inscribed on the arches of the Roman catacombs, carved on the hard stones of the Alpine rocks, in places where, it seems, only an eagle can climb. He met this name on the bronze doors of the Vatican, and on the wall of the cathedral in Florence, on prison walls and on monuments, in factories and schools.
The name of Lenin remained to live in the new names of Soviet people. It is known that after the death of Vladimir Ilyich, the word “Lenin” in various combinations and anagrams* became a widespread name in our country. Who doesn’t know such names as Vladlen, Vilen, Vladilena, Lenina, Ninel and others? Thousands of people bear these names with pride.
But the most interesting thing, perhaps, is that the word “Lenin” became a name in its literal expression, without any changes. It is appropriate to note that in our country a surname, as a rule, cannot become a personal name, since it is formed according to different dictionary laws than the name. Most other nations do not have a formal difference in the formation of first and last names**, and therefore the word “Lenin” could become a name. However, something else is important. The name “Lenin” appeared in a number of countries where the word itself was or is still under strict police ban.
Here are a few facts that were reported in the press at one time. In distant Portugal, languishing under the yoke of the fascist dictator Salazar, a man with the legendary name Lenin lives and lives. He was born in the sadly memorable year of 1924 in the city of Porto in the family of young workers Luis and Dolores. The parents who chose such a glorious name for their first-born died on the barricades during the uprising of 1927, when little Lenin was only three years old.
Time passed, the boy grew up and, like his parents, became a worker. And then he felt what a formidable power for exploiters lay hidden in his name! They endlessly called Lenin to the police, demanding only one thing - to change his name. The owners fired him from his job, and again the same reason - the name was objectionable to them. They tried by any means to get rid of the young worker, to deprive him of his life. But every time, ordinary people of the Portuguese city of Porto spoke out in defense of a man named Lenin.
So he lives, a Portuguese with a legendary, undying name, surrounded by the hatred of his enemies, the love and protection of his friends. 1
The fate of another person, who also bore the name Lenin, was sadder and more tragic. He was born in the same year, 1924, but not in Portugal, but in the capital of Greece - Athens. His father, the prominent Greek historian Yanis Kordatos, also chose the name of the leader of the Russian revolution for his son. Lenin Cordatos grew up and became a communist. When asked about this, he answered with an embarrassed smile:
Can you really doubt it? Yes, I'm a communist too!
The Second World War came. During the terrible years of the Nazi occupation, Lenin Kordatos managed to save his life and his name. But in 1944 the Nazis were expelled from Greece; They were replaced by Greek home-grown fascists - the Hitos. In 1945, Lenin Kordatos was arrested.
What is your name? - the fascist executioners angrily asked him.
Lenin! - the young man answered them proudly.
You're lying, damn communist! - the brutal chitos yelled at him.
Lenin, my name is Lenin! - Cordatos tirelessly repeated. The Nazis shot him. The young hero died defending his glorious and proud name! 2
On the island of Liberty - in Cuba, in the city of Trinidad, a modest librarian lives and lives, whose name is Lenin Trujillo. 3
When he walks through the streets of his small town, the townspeople greet him warmly and with a smile:
Buenos dies, Lenin! Hello Lenin!
And in Chicago, in this largest industrial center of the United States of America, the old communist worker Frank Pellegrino and his son and grandson are named Lenin 4 .
Lenin Cordatos, Lenin Trujillo, Lenin Pellegrino... How many more are there, people who proudly bear this glorious name?! But there are even more of those who bear the name Lenin in their hearts. There are millions and millions of them...
* An anagram is the rearrangement of letters in a word to form another word, for example: Lenin - Ninel(ь).
** Let us remember the names and surnames of two famous American writers Upton Sinclair and Sinclair Lewis. The first one has “Sinclair” as a surname, the second one as a first name. There are many such examples.
WHO WAS FREY?
We have deviated somewhat from the straight line of our narrative. Let's return to other pseudonyms of Vladimir Ilyich. Let's open the 6th volume of the Complete Works of V.I. Lenin and remember the years associated with the preparation for the Second Party Congress and the development of the first party program.
It is in this volume that the draft of the first Program of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party is published. On the very first page we will see a footnote that says that the fundamental part of this project was proposed by one of the members of the editorial board (meaning the editorial board of the Iskra newspaper - I.V.) - Frey. 1
Who was he? Frey?
It is known that the editorial board of Iskra at that time included Lenin, Martov, Potresov and members of the Liberation of Labor group - Plekhanov, Axelrod and Zasulich. Six members of the editorial board, but not one of them with the last name Frey.
It turns out that Frey (more precisely William Frey) is the pseudonym of Vladimir Ilyich, which he used during the years of his first emigration. For the first time, Lenin signed a letter to L. I. Akselrod-Orthodox with this pseudonym on September 22 (October 5), 1901. 2 But he used it much later.
Quite a few of Lenin’s articles and letters are signed like this: William Frey, W. Frey, Frey, and also abbreviated: V. Fr., V. F., F.
In the correspondence of the Iskra editorial board, the version of the first Party Program, written by Vladimir Ilyich on five notebook-sized sheets, was usually designated as “Frey’s project.” And much later, the set of manuscripts, documents and letters of Lenin that he left in Switzerland was called “Frey’s suitcase”. Fortunately, this “suitcase” was saved, and after the death of Vladimir Ilyich, the documents were received by the Lenin Institute.
It happened that Vladimir Ilyich, referring to some of his published articles, called himself Frey. So, for example, in connection with the election campaign to the State Duma in 1912, he wrote to the editor of the Zvezda newspaper: “I highly recommend reprinting Frey’s article from Zvezda No. 34 (XII. 17/11) ...” 3
Where did this somewhat unusual pseudonym for Russian ears come from? Hard to say. One can only note that in the eighties and nineties of the last century, the pseudonym “William Frey” was also used by the fairly famous Russian public figure Vladimir Konstantinovich Gaines. Gaines's articles were published in the magazines Otechestvennye zapiski, Delo, and others. One of his articles entitled “Letter from V. Frey to L.N. Tolstoy” was banned by the tsarist censorship for criticizing the autocracy and the Orthodox Church.
Gaines's articles were, of course, known to V.I. Lenin. In addition, it can also be noted that Lenin’s older brother, Alexander Ulyanov, was personally acquainted with Gaines.
Did Lenin borrow the pseudonym “William Frey” from Vladimir Gaines?
Perhaps the foreign sound of the pseudonym seemed to him more secretive and less suspicious?
In addition, the surname Frey in its German meaning could not help but impress Lenin. After all, the German word “frei” means “free”!
Lenin also used the surname Frey under other circumstances - in connection with a visit to the Royal Swedish Library.
Libraries of Europe! Which of them has not seen this most zealous reader within its walls?! And each, like precious relics, keeps Lenin’s autographs.
The Public Library in St. Petersburg, the Rumyantsevskaya Library in Moscow, the British Museum Library in London, the Paris National Library, the libraries of Zurich and Geneva and, finally, the Stockholm Library...
Probably, the fact that we want to talk about would have remained unknown for some time if the anniversary of the All-Union Library named after V. I. Lenin in Moscow had not arrived.
In 1962, during the celebration of the centenary of this library, the director of the Royal Swedish Library, Uno Villers, reported that in 1907, while in Stockholm, Lenin visited the library there three times. This was December 28, 29 and 31, 1907. For reasons of secrecy, he signed the registration journal not with his real last name, but with a fictitious first and last name John Frey (John Frey). This time Vladimir Ilyich replaced the name William with the name John. 4
The nickname "Frey" has served its purpose once again!
THIS IS OUR MEYER!
So, during the years of his first emigration, Vladimir Ilyich most often used the pseudonyms “Petrov”, “Frey”, “Ilyin”, “Lenin”. But, strangely, all correspondence to himself in Munich, where he lived for the first time, he asked to be addressed not to Petrov, not to Frey, but Meyer.
Perhaps, for purposes of secrecy, the correspondence was deliberately sent not to Lenin, but to an outsider? After all, we had to do this more than once in emigration conditions. Absolutely true, but this time the addressee was still Vladimir Ilyich himself. It is easy to verify this by reading Lenin’s letter to P.B. Axelrod dated March 7 (20), 1901. It is signed: "Meyer".
In the letter, Vladimir Ilyich indicated his address in German: “Herrn Georg Rittmeyer, Kaiserstrasse, 53/0 Miinchen.” Inside: "fur Meyer".
In Russian, this address reads like this: “To Mr. Georg Rittmeyer, Kaiserstrasse, 53/0 Munich.” Inside: “for Meyer.”
Meyer is, of course, not a literary pseudonym, but a secret surname under which Lenin lived in Munich. Why did he choose such a surname? It seems that the above letter to Axelrod, or more precisely, the address given in it, sheds some light on this.
Georg Rittmeyer was a German Social Democrat, the owner of the hotel where Lenin lived. Isn't there a clue to Vladimir Ilyich's secret surname in his last name? It can be assumed that Lenin simply discarded the first syllable of the complex surname and received the short surname Meyer, which was quite common in Germany. (This surname is as common for Germans as the surname Petrov or Ivanov is for Russians.)
Czech journalist Miroslav Ivanov came to a similar conclusion in his book “Lenin in Prague.” 1
One small but important detail also speaks in favor of this assumption: in the German spelling of the end of Rittmeyer’s surname, the letter “u” (Greek) appears. If there were not the letter “u”, but “i”, then the surname would be pronounced not Rittmeyer, but Rittmayer. Lenin signed the letter: “Meyer”, not “Mayer”. This means that this letter alone also indicates that Vladimir Ilyich borrowed his illegal surname from the hotel owner.
Be that as it may, in Munich, in revolutionary-minded circles, everyone knew that the young Russian Social Democrat’s name was Meyer. The hotel owner's children loved their guest very much and called him “Uncle Meyer.” From time to time he gave them small gifts.
This Munich surname of Vladimir Ilyich became the cause of one misunderstanding, which N.K. Krupskaya spoke about in her memoirs.
Here is how it was. In January 1900, Vladimir Ilyich’s exile ended. He returned to Russia, and in July of the same year he went abroad. N.K. Krupskaya was able to go to him only a few months later. Vladimir Ilyich promptly informed her of his Munich address. For reasons of secrecy, correspondence was not conducted openly; the address was in the binding of a book that was sent to a zemstvo figure. This last one, as they say, “read out” the book, and Nadezhda Konstantinovna did not receive the address. But she knew the address of a certain Modrachek, with whose name Lenin marked his letters. Krupskaya decided that Vladimir Ilyich himself lived in Prague under the name Modrachek.
She arrived in Prague and found Modracek’s house. The owner of the apartment came out and, to Nadezhda Konstantinovna’s surprise, said:
I'm Modracek.
However, he immediately guessed who exactly the Russian woman was looking for and recommended that she go to Munich. In Munich, arriving at Rittmeyer's hotel, she met the owner's wife, and she immediately realized who she was dealing with.
You are probably Herr Meyer's wife? - she turned to N.K. Krupskaya. - He is waiting for a wife from Siberia. - And then she showed Nadezhda Konstantinovna the apartment in the backyard where Vladimir Ilyich lived with his sister Anna Ilyinichna.
The arrival of Nadezhda Konstantinovna necessitated a change of name. The Bulgarian Social Democrats got Vladimir Ilyich a passport in the name of the Bulgarian I. Iordanov. Lenin had to grow a “Bulgarian mustache”, and since then he and Nadezhda Konstantinovna were listed in the Munich police as “Doctor of Law Jordan Jordanov and his wife Maritza." 2
And one more case related to the pseudonym “Meyer”. After the October Revolution, a Czech communist visited Moscow and talked with V.I. Lenin. Returning to Prague, this comrade found Modraček, discussed above, and asked him:
You met Lenin, right?
No, he answered. - I have never seen Lenin.
The visitor was quite surprised.
And the humble Czech worker really did not suspect that the young Russian revolutionary Meyer and the leader of the October Revolution, Lenin, were one and the same person!
Only in 1917, having seen a portrait of V.I. Lenin in a newspaper, Modrachek called his wife and told her:
Do you know who Lenin is? This is our Meyer! 4
However, Modraček was not the only one who did not know Lenin by sight at that time. The German comrade Xaver Streb, in his brochure about Lenin’s stay in Germany, writes:
“Many of his German acquaintances now unexpectedly learned that “Uncle Meyer,” who loved children so much, “Doctor Iordanov,” who so readily entered into disputes, stood at the head of the first workers’ and peasants’ state.” 5
MR RICHTER IN LONDON
On the banks of the wide muddy Thames,
In a remote corner of a working-class neighborhood
There was a simple, old, poor house.
Ashot Grashi
This house at 30 Holford Square is no longer there. It was destroyed by a fascist bomb during the Second World War. But at the beginning of our century, in 1902, this house was known to many.
One day a man knocked on the door of one of the apartments. The owner of the apartment, Mrs. Yo, came out.
Can I see Mr. Ulyanov, that is, no, Mr. Richter? - the stranger turned to her.
“Yes,” the hostess answered after some thought and escorted the guest to the apartment where Richter and his wife lived.
The stranger who asked Richter was Ivan Vasilyevich Babushkin. 1 A Richter, as readers, of course, guessed, is Vladimir Ilyich himself. He and Nadezhda Konstantinovna signed up under this name when they arrived in London in April 1902 to establish and continue the publication of Iskra.
In the memoirs of N.K. Krupskaya there is the following phrase about this: “They didn’t ask for any documents in London then, you could sign up under any name. We signed up as Richters." 2
V. I. Lenin “prepared” the surname Richter for himself even before arriving in London. In a letter from Munich, he wrote to N.A. Alekseev, a Bolshevik emigrant who was then living in London, that letters would be sent to Alekseev for a certain Jacob Richter and these letters were intended for him, Vladimir Ilyich.
Arriving in London, Vladimir Ilyich and Nadezhda Konstantinovna rented two small modest rooms in the house we have already talked about. The owner of the apartment, Mrs. Yo, was very embarrassed by the simple furnishings in the rooms of her tenants. But Lenin was quite happy with the apartment, since it was located not far from the British Museum. Here, in the museum library, Vladimir Ilyich, as a rule, spent the first half of the day. By the way, we note that Karl Marx once worked within the walls of this library. 3
More than ten years ago, two letters from Lenin to the director of the British Museum, written in English, became known. In his first letter, Vladimir Ilyich asked for a ticket to enter the reading room. Vladimir Ilyich signed this letter as follows: “With deep respect for you, sir. Jacob Richter." This letter was written on April 21, 1902. Three days later, due to complications that had arisen, Lenin again addressed the director of the museum, with a second letter in which he wrote: “Sir! In addition to my letter
and in response to your Notice No. 4332, I present a new recommendation from Mr. Mitchell. Dear Jacob Richter." 4
Both of these documents were exhibited in 1953 in London at an exhibition opened in honor of the bicentenary of the founding of the British Museum.
So, Richter! This pseudonym is not noted either in Masanov’s dictionary or in the reference volume for the fourth edition of V. I. Lenin’s Works. It is only available in the “Auxiliary Indexes to the Chronological Index...”
Why did Lenin call himself Richter? Another mystery. Maybe an old London newspaper and an entry in the library register will help us solve it?
In 1961, the old Bolshevik N.A. Alekseev, whose name was already mentioned above, found the English newspaper Athenaeum, published in London on May 10, 1902. 5 Why did this old newspaper, yellowed with time, interest him? The fact is that it contains an advertisement related to Lenin’s stay in London. Alekseev, who lived there previously, carried out all the preparations for the arrival of Vladimir Ilyich.
Here is the verbatim text of this announcement:
“And Russian LL. D. (and his Wife) would like to exchange Russian lessons for English with an English Gentleman (or Lady). - Address Letters Mr. J. Richter, 30 Holford Square, Pentonville. W.C."
The meaning of the ad boils down to the following: “Russian LL. D. and his wife would like to take English lessons from an English gentleman or lady in exchange for Russian lessons. Send letters to Mr. Ya. Richter...”*
Only the abbreviation “LL” remained untranslated. D". This word is not in the English-Russian dictionary. It turns out that “LL. D" is the generally accepted abbreviation of the Latin words "Legum Doctor"; translated into Russian they mean: “the doctor is right.”
Now let's return to the British Museum library journal. There is the following entry: “Jacob Richter, Doctor of Laws... library card No. 72453.” The doctor is right again! Isn’t this title of “Mr. Richter” the clue to his last name? Let's try to figure it out.
Richter is a very common surname among Germans. What we noted about the surname Meyer also applies to the surname Richter. This, apparently, decided Lenin's choice. The very word “Richter” translated into Russian means “judge”. This word, in turn, comes from another German word “Recht”, which means “law” or generally “legal sciences”.
Lenin, as you know, was a lawyer by training. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University with a first degree diploma, and this allowed him to be called a Doctor of Laws**.
In 1892, Vladimir Ilyich received official permission to conduct court cases and several times acted as a defense attorney in peasant and other cases in the Samara District Court. Shouldn't we admit that it was the legal profession that suggested to Vladimir Ilyich his illegal surname Richter?
Whether this is true or not is now, of course, impossible to establish. In any case, Lenin lived in London for a whole year under the German surname Richter.
It was well known in party circles that Richter was Lenin. It is characteristic that the announcement of the 1903 May Day in Alexander Park, published in the London newspaper Justice, said that N. Lenin would speak at the May Day. Exactly Lenin, not Richter!
N.K. Krupskaya wrote in her memoirs that the owner of the apartment, Mrs. Yo, always considered her and Vladimir Ilyich to be Germans, which was probably facilitated by their purely German surname.
This means that this surname has served its purpose!
* After the publication of this announcement, Vladimir Ilyich immediately had three teachers and at the same time a student. They were: a venerable old man who served in a London publishing company, a certain Mr. Rayment, an office worker named Williams, and also Yong, a worker.
** Arriving in Krakow in 1912, Lenin, when questioned by the police, also showed that he had a “Doctor of Laws” diploma.
"UNKNOWN KARPOV"
The tribune was a battlefield...
Sergey Orlov
In 1905, a revolution broke out in Russia. This was the first popular revolution of the era of imperialism - a “dress rehearsal”, as Lenin later called it.
Vladimir Ilyich languished in a foreign land; he was drawn to his homeland, into the very midst of the revolutionary masses. And so, at the end of November 1905, Lenin arrived in St. Petersburg and plunged headlong into revolutionary work.
Soon, however, the tsarist secret police were on the trail of Vladimir Ilyich. He was forced to leave St. Petersburg and move, as they said then, to the “nearby emigration.” The place of this short-term emigration was Finland, which, although part of the Russian Empire, enjoyed a certain autonomy.
Lenin then lived in the village of Kuokkala (now Repino) and once visited the capital of Finland - Helsingfors.
Professor V. M. Smirnov, with whom Vladimir Ilyich stayed during his visit to Helsingfors, recalls that his mother called Lenin “the Russian professor.” She did not know or suspect that the famous scientist, professor at Moscow University M. M. Kovalevsky once remarked: “What a good professor Lenin could make!”
“The title of professor,” writes V. M. Smirnov, “was not too brilliant” for Vladimir Ilyich!” 1
But Lenin had no time for the professorial chair! A revolution began in Russia, and Vladimir Ilyich devoted himself entirely to it.
Hiding in Finland, he nevertheless often came to St. Petersburg. He spoke at party and workers' meetings: he sharply criticized the Mensheviks and defended the tactics of the Bolsheviks in relation to the State Duma.
The majority in the first Duma was won by the bourgeois party of the Cadets. In order to strengthen their influence among the workers, the Cadets decided to hold a large public meeting in St. Petersburg on May 9, 1906. This meeting took place in the “People's House” of Countess Panina on Tambovskaya Street*.
The St. Petersburg intelligentsia was invited to the meeting; Many workers also gathered. The hall was packed. Members of the Cadet Party spoke one after another - famous professors, lawyers, and State Duma deputies. They spoke beautifully, smoothly, in every possible way defending their party and trying to mislead the workers.
The speakers were applauded. Many workers were confused: “Are the cadets really telling the truth?”
But then the chairman of the meeting, Countess Panina, announced:
Our next speaker is Mr. Karpov**.
A short, stocky man in a simple and somewhat shabby suit walked onto the stage with a swift step. He bowed politely to the chairwoman and began his speech.
Comrades! - he addressed the workers.
At first the audience listened somewhat indifferently. People asked themselves the question: “Who is this Karpov? What party is he from?
The audience didn't know this. True, some people were familiar with the peculiar squinting of the eyes, the characteristic hand gesture of the speaker. And soon many of those present at the meeting recognized the “unknown Karpov” as Ilyich. He exposed the Cadets with such iron logic and smashed the Mensheviks so much that there could be no doubt. Only Lenin could speak so clearly and convincingly!
One of the oldest communists, A. G. Shlikhter, recalled many years later: “...What the “unknown” Karpov said was riveting, captivating with its novelty and surprise...” 2
And here is what S. V. Markov, a worker from the Putilov plant who was present at the rally, subsequently wrote about Lenin’s speech: “We were delighted with his speech... That evening our hearts were filled with bright joy and inspired with the hope that there would be holiday..." 3
In a word, as Vladimir Ilyich spoke, the audience’s attention grew more and more; Applause began to be heard more and more often.
The results of this meeting were very instructive. Not only did V.I. Lenin manage to deliver a bright Bolshevik speech at an open meeting, in front of the police, but he also proposed his own resolution. And, what the organizers of the rally did not expect, the Karpov-Lenin resolution was adopted by an overwhelming majority of votes! This resolution ended with these prophetic words: “The meeting expresses confidence that the proletariat will continue to stand at the head of all revolutionary elements of the people.” Excited and excited, the workers took to the streets singing revolutionary songs. Some workers tore up their red shirts and made flags out of them. Disguised policemen and spies rushed about in vain. Karpov disappeared, as if disappearing into the mass of workers...
But less than a month passed - and Karpov showed up. Using this secret name again, Vladimir Ilyich made a report on June 6 before the delegates of the All-Russian Congress of People's Teachers in St. Petersburg, and a month later, on July 7, at a meeting of agitators, propagandists and party workers. At this meeting, Lenin made a report on the tactics of the Social Democratic faction in the State Duma and proposed a corresponding resolution.
The history of these speeches by V.I. Lenin is a vivid example of how pseudonyms helped him in party work.
Lenin subsequently used the surname Karpov more than once as a literary pseudonym. Thus, in 1917 and 1918, a number of articles by Vladimir Ilyich were signed: N. Karpov. And even earlier, in 1913, some of Lenin’s works were signed with an abbreviated version of this pseudonym ( Kar - ov, K - pov, K - in and etc.).
Around the time when the pseudonym “Karpov” arose, another secret nickname of Vladimir Ilyich dates back, which is very rarely mentioned in historical and memoir literature. We are talking about the party nickname " Ivan Ivanovich", which became known at the end of 1906, when Lenin was hiding at the Vasa dacha in Finland. This nickname was reported by Vera Rudolfovna Menzhinskaya to S.V. Markov, who served as a liaison between Vladimir Ilyich and the St. Petersburg Party Committee.
We have already had a chance to talk about one episode from Markov’s activities associated with the pseudonym “Old Man”. Perhaps Markov already knew who the “Old Man” was, he had already met “Karpov” (Markov, after all, was a participant in the rally at the People’s House), but Markov apparently had no idea about “Ivan Ivanovich.” Arriving for the first time at the Vaza dacha, Markov turned to Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya:
I need to see Ivan Ivanovich, I’m from Vera Rudolfovna...
Nadezhda Konstantinovna left, and Vladimir Ilyich immediately came out to him.
“I recognized him immediately,” writes Markov. 4
* There, in house No. 63, the Central Club of Oktyabrskaya Railway Workers is now located.
** The poet Nikolai Brown made a historical inaccuracy in his poem “Comrade Karpov”. He writes: “Here a new speaker was announced to the meeting: - Comrade Karpov, the floor...” Countess Panina, who chaired the meeting, could not call Karpov a comrade.
SIGNOR DRIN-DRIN
Let’s make a reservation in advance: this is not a party nickname, not a literary pseudonym, or even a secret surname, but a playful nickname given to Lenin by Italian fishermen. This story characterizes Lenin the man to such an extent, his cheerful and sociable disposition, his love for a good joke, that, truly, it is worth telling about it.
This was in April 1908. Vladimir Ilyich came to the island of Capri to visit Alexei Maksimovich Gorky. They talked about party and literary affairs. It was then that Lenin advised that Gorky write about the years of his childhood and youth. Thanks to Lenin’s advice, the famous Gorky trilogy “Childhood”, “In People”, “My Universities” later appeared.
Together with A. M. Gorky, Vladimir Ilyich visited the Naples Museum, climbed Mount Vesuvius, and admired the wonderful, colorful nature of Italy.
It is known that Lenin loved to hunt and fish in his spare time. And there, on Capri, accompanied by Italian fishermen, Lenin went fishing with Gorky. The fishermen of Capri immediately drew attention to Ilyich’s surprisingly heartfelt laughter. According to A. M. Gorky, the old fisherman Giovanni Spadaro once said about Lenin:
Only an honest person can laugh like that. 1
It was while fishing that the curious nickname that appears in the title of this chapter was born. Both adults, and especially Italian children, invariably greeted Lenin with a joyful exclamation:
Oh, sir Drink-drink!
Twelve years later, in 1920, when V.I. Lenin’s fiftieth birthday was celebrated, A.M. Gorky spoke about this curious nickname for the first time in a speech at an anniversary meeting. 2 Subsequently, after Lenin’s death, in his famous memoirs about him, Gorky also dedicated several lines to this nickname.
How did it come about?
Bulgarian comrade Pyotr Raichev, who was visiting Capri in 1908, once asked Vladimir Ilyich about the origin of the nickname “Sir Drin-drin.” In his essay, he quotes Lenin’s response as follows:
“Once an Italian fisherman expressed a desire to teach me how to fish “from the finger” - with a line without a rod. I tried it and, imagine, I caught a big fish. Delighted with my luck, I shouted loudly: “Drink-drink!” And he got himself into trouble. Everyone in Capri now calls me “Sir Drin-drin.”
“But you think that makes me sad? Oh, on the contrary, it gives me pleasure.” 3
Of course, this did not upset Ilyich! With his characteristic good nature and sense of humor, he accepted this comic nickname in the same way as in his youth the nickname “Old Man” or “Tyapkin-Lyapkin”.
One more interesting episode can be cited that characterizes V.I. Lenin’s attitude towards this kind of nicknames. In 1913, in Switzerland, he once met a rural teacher, V.S. Kurbatova (Vlasova), who had just arrived from Russia. Lenin was very happy about this acquaintance, and when the teacher asked what his name was, Vladimir Ilyich replied:
“My name... You see, one little girl... a crybaby called me “Uncle Vodya.” Call me that too..."
The teacher learned that “Uncle Vodya” was V.I. Lenin only five years later during the First All-Russian Congress of Teachers, at which Vladimir Ilyich made a brief welcoming speech. 4
But let’s return for a moment to the nickname “Signor Drin-drin.” When Lenin left Capri, the fishermen kept asking A. M. Gorky:
How does Signor Drin-drin live? The king won't catch him, will he?
No, the king failed to capture “Signor Drin-drin.” Less than ten years have passed. The Great October Socialist Revolution took place in Russia. The Soviet government came to power, and V.I. Lenin became its head. One day (it was in Petrograd, in 1918), after a report on the international situation, Vladimir Ilyich noticed among his listeners an old acquaintance from the island of Capri, the Bulgarian Peter Raichev. Now he was a famous opera singer. Vladimir Ilyich greeted him, then laughed and asked:
Do you still remember Signor Drin-drin?.. 5
LOYKO OR LESCHENKO?
Essentially, this will be a small dispute with I. F. Masanov’s “Dictionary of Pseudonyms” regarding one Leninist pseudonym.
The time when this pseudonym became known was February - April 1912. Vladimir Ilyich was then living legally in Paris under his real name. In his letters he gave the following address: Paris, XIV, rue Marie Rose, 4. V. Ulyanov.
He usually signed letters to his family with the initials V.U., and business and party correspondence with N. Lenin.
In Russia at that time they were preparing for elections to the Fourth State Duma, and, while in exile, Vladimir Ilyich devoted a lot of time and attention to the election campaign. Back in December 1911, and then in January 1912, several articles by V.I. Lenin on the Duma elections were published in the legal Bolshevik newspaper Zvezda, which were signed under the pseudonyms “William Frey” and “V. Frey." Around the same time, his article was published in the journal Prosveshcheniye, signed “K. Tulin."
The pseudonyms “Frey” and “Thulin” are already well known to us. But on February 19, and then on April 1, 1912, two articles by Vladimir Ilyich appeared in the same newspaper “Zvezda” - also about the elections. They are signed by a new, unfamiliar pseudonym - F. L - co. 1 This pseudonym is mentioned twice in the very text of the second article, which is called “Bad Defense of Liberal Labor Policy.”
Ironizing about Martov’s unsuccessful polemics, Vladimir Ilyich writes that he, Martov, “having defeated F. L -ko, “wounded” V. Frey, who is “pressing in the same direction.” 2 From this quote, by the way, we can conclude that Martov, to whom the pseudonym “Frey” was well known, apparently did not know who “F. L - co."
Below in the same article we read: “If Martov is right, then the reader should blame me, F. L - co...” 3
So why "F. L - co"? The letter “F” is not uncommon in Lenin’s pseudonyms - let’s remember “F. P.", "F. F.”, party nickname “Fedor Petrovich”, etc.
What should “L - ko” mean? Masanov’s dictionary says this: L - ko F. (i.e. F. Loiko). 4
The pseudonym “Loiko” vividly reminds us of the name of one of the characters in M. Gorky’s story “Makar Chudra”. The story was published in 1892. Maybe twenty years later Vladimir Ilyich decided to use this name for his pseudonym? Possible, of course, but unproven!
In Masanov’s dictionary there is a link to the “Bibliographical index to the XX (additional) volume of the first edition of the Collected Works of V. I. Lenin,” compiled by B. S. Shneerson. However, in this index the pseudonym “F. L - ko" is only mentioned, 5 but not deciphered.
Perhaps I. F. Masanov had other reasons for such an explanation, but, unfortunately, it is not possible to find out, since Masanov is no longer alive.
What other surname could “L - ko” mean?
Let's remember some suitable surnames: Levchenko, Lyubchenko, Leshchenko...
The last of the names mentioned involuntarily attracts attention - Leshchenko. It can be found more than once in historical party literature and in memoirs about V.I. Lenin. This name also appears in one of Ilyich’s own notebooks. In his alphabet book for addresses and telephone numbers there is the following entry:
"Leshchenko Dm. Il. Lakhtinskaya, 25/20, apt. 17". 6
Who was D.I. Leshchenko and what relationship did he have with V.I. Lenin? Dmitry Ilyich Leshchenko, an old party member, had known Vladimir Ilyich since the time of the first Russian revolution. In 1906, he was secretary of the Bolshevik newspapers Volna and Echo, and he was connected with Lenin by common party affairs and interests.
In his memoirs about Vladimir Ilyich, Leshchenko writes that he often met with Lenin in 1906 in St. Petersburg, then at the dacha in Kuokkala, where Lenin was hiding, in London at the Unity Congress, in 1911 in Paris, etc. 7
V.I. Lenin often visited Leshchenko’s apartment, where editorial meetings were held, and on May 9 (22), after the famous speech of the “unknown Karpov” at a rally in the “People’s House” of Countess Panina, Lenin, as N.K. Krupskaya testifies, went to him to spend the night. 8
Much later, in the summer of 1917, during Ilyich’s last underground, Leshchenko photographed him and helped produce a fake document.
In a word, Vladimir Ilyich was well acquainted with Leshchenko, and shortly before he wrote an article signed “F. L - co ", met him in Paris.
So isn’t it logical to assume that it was the surname Leshchenko that became the basis for the pseudonym “L -ko”?
Of course, such an assumption requires proof, which we, unfortunately, cannot provide. Therefore, the question “Loiko or Leshchenko?” continues to remain open...
NO, NOT JUST THE READER!
"Truth" - white wings,
what Lenin gave me.
Abd Al-Wahhat Al-Bayati
Readers of Pravda, of course, noticed that from mid-June 1962, more precisely from issue 16023, a laconic inscription appeared in the upper left corner of the first page of the newspaper: “The newspaper was founded on May 5, 1912 by V. I. Lenin.” .
Yes, everyone knows this: Pravda was organized according to the instructions and under the direct leadership of Lenin.
In 1962, when our country celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of Pravda, the first issue of the newspaper was exhibited in the Saltykov-Shchedrin Leningrad Public Library. It is impossible to look at this precious relic of our communist press without deep emotional emotion. How much a newspaper sheet yellowed by time can sometimes tell!
In the upper right corner of the newspaper is the address of the office and editorial office, and under the heading on the left, in a frame of typographical flourishes, is printed a long list of authors who have agreed to collaborate in the newspaper. Here are the names of writers Maxim Gorky and Demyan Bedny, famous party journalists M. Olminsky and V. Vorovsky, an outstanding figure in the international labor movement Rosa Luxemburg and many other prominent public and political figures...
But where is the name of the initiator and organizer of the newspaper?
Lenin's name is not on the list. But you can easily find another surname that is well known to us - Ilyin. This was probably the case. The name of Lenin - the famous revolutionary and party leader - was too familiar to the censorship and the police; Ilyin was better known as a theoretical scientist. At first, this surname could go unnoticed and not cause unnecessary complications. This fact also speaks to its convenience for conspiracy. In the address book “All Petersburg” for any pre-revolutionary year there are many dozens of St. Petersburg residents with the surname Ilyin. So, in 1912, when the first issue of Pravda was published, in this book you can find 172 Ilins, including 14 Vladimirov Ilins, but there are only four people with the last name Lenin. Naturally, it would be many times more difficult for the police to find Ilyin than Lenin. In addition, two Ilyins are mentioned in the list of authors. Apparently, both Vladimir Ilyich and the editors took this circumstance into account when they placed Lenin’s old pseudonym in the list of employees.
In any case, Vladimir Ilyich collaborated extensively and fruitfully with Pravda. After all, he specifically moved from Paris to Krakow, closer to Russia, in order to better manage the newspaper. It was easier to maintain contact with Russia from Krakow than from Paris. Sometimes it was even possible to send letters by messengers crossing the Russian-Austrian border, who dropped them into a mailbox on the Russian side. This aroused less suspicion.
However, Lenin not only wrote to Pravda, but also received large amounts of correspondence from Russia. After all, even while in exile, he was connected with the working class of Russia as closely as many revolutionaries who lived in Russia were not connected.
It was not easy to send correspondence: after all, both the Russian and Austrian police were watching Ilyich and his correspondence. I had to come up with all sorts of tricks and send letters to addresses that were quite strange at first glance. Who, for example, would have thought that the envelope with the address: “Germany, Breslau, Humboldtstrasse, 8, cigar manufacturer Mr. Gustav Tietze” contained an important letter for V.I. Lenin. 1 The Tsar’s gendarmes had no idea about this; however, the “Mr. Manufacturer” himself did not know this. But letters to Lenin arrived more or less accurately and provided him with abundant material for his articles and correspondence.
In 1912 - 1914, Lenin wrote to Pravda almost daily; During this time, more than 280 Leninist articles and notes were published on its pages. Many articles were published without any signature, others were signed by a wide variety of pseudonyms. 2
It’s easy to imagine how furious and angry the police and gendarmerie officials were when they opened the latest issue of Pravda every morning. They were well aware that N. Lenin, V. Frey, V. Ilyin were one and the same person.
But the authors of other articles, for example Layman, Silin, Karich, Statistician, Pravdist or Reader, did not cause much concern among the secret police. And the police officials and censors had no idea that these were also the pseudonyms of V.I. Lenin!
What is the origin of the now named pseudonyms? Some of them become clear after reading the text and content of the articles. Here, for example, is an article containing a number of statistics. It is signed: Statistician. Everything is clear here.
Other pseudonyms seem to follow from the titles of the articles: sometimes they have a clearly ironic connotation. Let's say, speaking about the clergy, Lenin signs the article: Layman. 3 Ironizing about an article published under the pseudonym “Skeptic” in the liberal newspaper Rech, Vladimir Ilyich signed his article: Non-liberal skeptic. 4
Two or three more similar examples. Vladimir Ilyich signs the article dedicated to the opening of the State Duma: Non-MP. 5
Although V.I. Lenin daily led the activities of the Bolshevik faction in the Duma, he himself was not a deputy.
Talking about Prince Meshchersky’s article in the reactionary magazine “Citizen,” Lenin ironically remarks: “True observation.” Isn’t that where the signature under the article comes from - Observer? 6
The number of such examples could be increased. There are also pseudonyms that are directly related to Pravda. One article, for example, is signed like this: Regular reader of Pravda", 7 the other is even shorter - Reader. 8
Yes, Vladimir Ilyich was a regular and careful reader of Pravda! Who doesn’t know the wonderful photograph taken by P. Otsup - “Lenin reads Pravda”?! This wonderful photograph inspired the Belarusian poet Petrus Brovka to write the following lyrical lines:
The sun moves across the vast country, unquenchable, like our aspiration.
The world is waking up.
I'm happy -
Lenin reads Pravda.
But was Lenin the only reader of Pravda? No, he managed it on a daily basis, directed the work of the editorial office, in the full sense of the word he was the soul of the newspaper!
Therefore, another Leninist pseudonym of that time should be considered more in line with the actual state of affairs. We're talking about a nickname Pravdist. 9 It was Vladimir Ilyich who was the first and main Pravdist.
Alias-Paradox
Anyone who has visited the Central Museum of V.I. Lenin in Moscow could not help but pay attention to the large cabinet in which books in different languages are displayed. Here is presented only part of the literature that Vladimir Ilyich studied when he wrote his work “Imperialism, as the highest stage of capitalism.” Hundreds of books and brochures, statistical collections and journal articles published in different countries of the world in different languages, he had to read and take notes in order for a book of one hundred printed pages to appear. Meanwhile, the preparatory materials for the book alone (extracts, notes, rough sketches), the well-known “Notebooks on Imperialism” make up a substantial volume - about eight hundred pages.
V.I. Lenin began working on “Imperialism” in 1915, and by the summer of 1916 the manuscript was ready. The book was supposed to be published in St. Petersburg by the Parus publishing house. M. N. Pokrovsky, a famous Bolshevik historian who then lived in Paris, was appointed as its editor. And now Vladimir Ilyich sends the completely rewritten manuscript by registered parcel from Switzerland to France to M. N. Pokrovsky.
However, the addressee did not receive the parcel. In 1916, as we know, the First World War was still going on, and the French military authorities confiscated the manuscript.
Then Vladimir Ilyich decided to resort to the old, proven method of underground revolutionaries and, sending the manuscript again rewritten on the thinnest paper, bound it in the bindings of two large-format books. The books were sent first from Bern to Geneva, from there to the outskirts of Paris - So, and from France - to Russia, to St. Petersburg. Only in this roundabout way was it possible to deliver the manuscript to the publishing house. 1
And finally, in July 1917, after the February Revolution, V. I. Lenin’s work was published under a slightly changed title: “Imperialism, as the newest stage of capitalism.” On the cover and title page of the book was the author's surname: “N. Lenin (Vl. Ilyin).”
It should be noted that at the last moment the publishers were afraid of the revolutionary content of the book and removed the publishing house's name from the cover. This attitude towards the work of V.I. Lenin is quite understandable: after all, in the leadership and apparatus of the Parus publishing house there was a dominance of Mensheviks, who clearly did not like Lenin’s ideas.
All these circumstances became known relatively recently. 2 But the question is: why are we talking about all this, what does this have to do with the pseudonyms of V.I. Lenin? The most direct: four, and possibly five, pseudonyms of Vladimir Ilyich are associated with the book “Imperialism, as the highest stage of capitalism.” We have already talked about two (“N. Lenin” and “Vl. Ilyin”); they are already widely known. The rest will be discussed below.
When Lenin sent his manuscript to Paris for the first time, foreseeing censorship complications that his name might cause, he wrote to M.N. Pokrovsky: “As for the author’s name, I would prefer my usual pseudonym, of course. If it’s inconvenient, I suggest a new one: N. Lenivtsyn.” 3
It is on this pseudonym that we want to hold the attention of readers.
Lenivtsyn! Isn't it a paradox?.. A man who was a tireless worker who never knew rest all his life decides to call himself... Lenivtsin! It is worth remembering as a result of what enormous, literally titanic work and mental effort this book itself was written, in order to once again see how the literal meaning of the pseudonym does not correspond to the true character of the author.
However, there can be no doubt. The pseudonym “Lenivtsyn” was prepared by Vladimir Ilyich while working on the manuscript, long before its publication. You can be convinced of this by reading Lenin’s Notebooks on Imperialism.
In the notebook “u” (“gamma”) there is the following entry: “Lenivtsyn. Title: “Main features of modern capitalism.” 4
This means that back in 1915 Lenin prepared this pseudonym for himself. How could it have arisen? Hard to say. But it’s worth comparing Vladimir Ilyich’s main pseudonym (“N. Lenin”) with the one he proposed again (“N. Lenivtsyn”), how their common initial (“N.”), as well as the identical first four and last letters of the surname, catches the eye.
Maybe Vladimir Ilyich simply inserted an insert into his main pseudonym (-vtsy-)? Who knows? In any case, the fact remains that this pseudonym belongs to Lenin.
And about one more possible pseudonym. Re-reading the correspondence of A. M. Gorky with M. N. Pokrovsky related to the publication of Lenin’s work, we learn the following. In a letter to Pokrovsky dated September 29, 1916, Gorky wrote: “Yes, a brochure Ilyinsky(my italics - I.V.) is truly excellent, and I completely agree with you: it needs to be published in its entirety, but not as a series.” 5
What brochure are we talking about? And who is Ilyinsky? It turns out that A. M. Gorky had in mind V. I. Lenin’s book “Imperialism, as the highest stage of capitalism.” But why - Ilyinsky? After all, Lenin’s pseudonym was not “Ilyinsky”, but “Ilyin”. Maybe Gorky made a mistake (however, the name Ilyinsky is mentioned twice in the letter), or maybe another pseudonym of Vladimir Ilyich, Ilyinsky, actually appeared in other letters unknown to us?
This question remains open. But there is also a fifth pseudonym associated with Lenin’s work “Imperialism, as the highest stage of capitalism.”
WHY "IVANOVSKY"?
In 1918, V. I. Lenin’s classic work “State and Revolution” was published. The book has the following subtitle: “The doctrine of Marxism about the state and the tasks of the proletariat in the revolution.”
In this work, Vladimir Ilyich restored the views of Marx and Engels, distorted by the opportunists, and creatively developed the doctrine of Marxism about the state.
The author’s two pseudonyms are printed on the cover of the book: “V. Ilyin" and - in brackets - "N. Lenin."
Let's open the 33rd volume of the Complete Works of V.I. Lenin. We will find here not only the cover, but also a photocopy of the first page of the manuscript “State and Revolution”. 1
Any manuscript (even if it’s not original, but a photocopy) always makes some special impression: it seems to breathe the living breath of the author’s work.
Let us carefully consider the first page of Lenin’s work. On a yellow sheet of paper next to the thrice underlined title in the hand of Vladimir Ilyich, the author’s surname is written, but it is not Ilyin or Lenin, but... Ivanovsky. The initials are right there: F. F. What's the matter? Why "Ivanovsky"?
It turns out that Vladimir Ilyich intended to publish his book under this pseudonym, since otherwise it would have been confiscated by the Provisional Government. Fortunately, while the book was being prepared for printing, a socialist revolution occurred in Russia, the book was published after October, and the need for a new pseudonym disappeared.
But where could the pseudonym “Ivanovsky” come from? Before trying to answer this question, let us recall the events of the time when Lenin conceived and began to write his book.
In July 1917, the Provisional Government finally threw off its mask and acted as a clearly bourgeois and counter-revolutionary government. It ordered the arrest and prosecution of Vladimir Ilyich, presenting him with a monstrous slanderous accusation of espionage. The persecution of Lenin, which began in April, immediately after his return to Russia, took on a wild and unbridled character. There was a real danger that the enemies of the revolution would kill Lenin.
Under these conditions, Vladimir Ilyich, fulfilling the decision of the Central Committee of the Party, was forced to go underground. At first, he was hiding in Razliv under the guise of a Finn mower. Here he began work on the book “State and Revolution”. But summer ended, it became cold, autumn rains began to fall, and it was impossible to stay longer in Razliv. And besides, it became dangerous there, since suspicious “hunters” appeared from time to time in the area of Lenin’s hut.
The party decided to transport Ilyich to Finland, where he could live in safety for some time. But how to cross the border? She was strictly guarded. And then they decided to get Lenin a forged document in the name of a worker at the Sestroretsk arms factory and, having made him up accordingly, smuggle him across the border with this document.
Many people are probably familiar with Lenin’s photography of that time. A completely unfamiliar face looks at us from it. The work cap is pushed back, and from under it strands of hair fall onto the forehead, the mustache and goatee are shaved off. So Ilyich’s appearance was changed beyond recognition.
After Lenin was made up, Dmitry Ilyich Leshchenko, already known to us, came to Razliv and photographed Ilyich.
N. A. Emelyanov, a worker at the Sestroretsk arms factory, volunteered to obtain the necessary document. In his memoirs about Lenin, he said that he obtained five factory passes with different surnames. 2 Vladimir Ilyich chose a pass ticket in the name Konstantin Petrovich Ivanov*. Why Ivanova? Probably because this surname, the most common in Russia, should not have aroused any special suspicion in Finland.
Under the name Ivanov, Lenin spent about two weeks in the small village of Yalkala, lost among the forests and lakes of the Karelian Isthmus**, and then moved to the capital of Finland, Helsingfors (now Helsinki).
In Helsingfors, Vladimir Ilyich lived with a certificate in the name of K.P. Ivanov in different apartments - with the Finnish Social Democrat Gustav Rovno and with others. Here he worked a lot and productively - he wrote a number of articles and finished the book “State and Revolution”. In his letters from Helsingfors and then from Vyborg, Lenin signed some letters with this new surname of his - Ivanov or for short - K. Iv.
Should we not admit that the secret surname Ivanov, under which Ilyich lived, became the source for the pseudonym “Ivanovsky”?
As for the initials F.F., they were found in the works of V.I. Lenin before. Thus, the article “The Significance of Elections in St. Petersburg”, published on July 1, 1912 in the Nevskaya Zvezda newspaper, was also signed “F. F."
In short, it seems quite likely that the pseudonym “Ivanovsky” is derived from the secret surname Ivanov. This version would have looked more or less plausible if it had not been refuted... by V.I. Lenin himself.
The fact is that Lenin intended to use the pseudonym “Ivanovsky” about a year before starting work on the book “State and Revolution,” when he was preparing for publication his other work, “Imperialism, as the highest stage of capitalism.” This is exactly the fifth pseudonym that we mentioned above. The circumstances surrounding this pseudonym became known relatively recently.
In 1958, new Lenin documents were published, including several letters to M.N. Pokrovsky, from which we learned all this. Thus, in a letter written between August 5 and 31, 1916, Lenin told Pokrovsky: “I’m afraid that my letter has been copied***. I asked there, if it is inconvenient to take a regular pseudonym (V. Ilyin), take: N. Lenivtsyn. Now we need to take another: V.I. Ivanovsky at least.” 3
The initials V.I. do not need explanation, and the surname Ivanovsky, as we see, was already prepared in 1916 by Lenin, who had no idea that a year later he would have to live under the surname Ivanov.
This means that the explanation we have given turns out to be untenable and the origin of the pseudonym “Ivanovsky” remains unclear. Most likely, Lenin simply randomly chose this fairly common Russian surname.
* Note that N.A. Emelyanov made some factual inaccuracies in his story, which, however, did not change the essence of the matter. So, he calls admission tickets certificates (in fact, there were two documents: an admission ticket and a certificate); he talks about the seal of the military commissariat, while in reality the documents bear the seal of the police commission, he calls Dmitrievsky the head of the plant, while, judging by his signature on the entry card, he was the assistant to the head of the plant for technical matters.
** Nowadays the village of Ilyichevo.
*** We are talking about a letter sent after the manuscript.
UNDER A HUMBLE LETTER
Great mind, great talent
Under the humble letter we will find.
D. D. Minaev
Now let’s continue our conversation about abbreviated pseudonyms*. In the works of Lenin
There are quite a few nicknames consisting of one or two letters. Most often these are initials, sometimes abbreviations of other pseudonyms, and often completely random letters that serve only one purpose - conspiracy.
Some of these aliases are easy to decipher. For example, it does not require special evidence that the pseudonyms “V. AND." - these are the initials of Vladimir Ilyin, “N. L." - N. Lenin, “K. T." - K. Tulina, etc. The same can be said about the pseudonyms “F. P." (Fedor Petrovich), “V. F." (William Frey), "I." (Ilyin), "T." (Tulin), etc.
But there are many such abbreviated pseudonyms that require explanation, and sometimes a little research.
Here's one example. In August 1912, Pravda published an article by V. I. Lenin, “Workers and Pravda,” signed with a pseudonym St. 1
What does “St.” mean here? "Old Man" or "Statistician"? After all, both of these pseudonyms belong to Vladimir Ilyich, and the abbreviation “St.” can equally apply to one and the other. But it’s worth turning to the contents of the article and comparing some dates, and everything will become clearer.
Vladimir Ilyich used the pseudonym “Old Man” for the last time in 1909, but shortly before the publication of the article “Workers and Pravda” another large article by Lenin was published, which was signed with the pseudonym “Statistician”. We have already discussed this article and the pseudonym “Statistician”.
Well, if we turn to the contents of the article “Workers and Pravda”, then in it we will find a statistical summary of the number of workers’ contributions to the newspaper “Pravda”. It seems that both facts (date of publication and the presence of a statistical summary) indicate that “St.” means "Statistician", not "Old Man".
And here is another pseudonym of V.I. Lenin, designated by two Latin letters NN. This is a fairly common pseudonym among writers. This is how Gogol and Griboyedov, Dostoevsky and Aksakov signed their works at different times. What does it mean? NN are the initial letters of the Latin words Nomen nescio, which are literally translated - “I don’t know the name.” Usually they are used in the meaning of “someone” or “some person”.
Three articles by V.I. Lenin, published in 1905 - 1906, are signed as follows: ъ. According to the old spelling, all words ending in a consonant necessarily had a “ъ” at the end. A solid sign was placed at the end of most Russian male surnames (ending in -ov, -ev, -in, etc.). Therefore, it is hardly worth linking this signature with any of Lenin’s pseudonyms known to us.
Apparently, solely for the purpose of conspiracy, Vladimir Ilyich signed one of his articles with one letter “ e", delimited by two hyphens (dashes).
There are many similar examples. Most of these one-letter signatures are recorded in the lists of Lenin's pseudonyms (see Appendix 1).
A kind of cryptonym is Vladimir Ilyich’s rather common unfinished pseudonym “ Your..." Here three dots replace the first or last name. Lenin especially often signed his letters with this cryptonym during the years of his first emigration.
Vladimir Ilyich signed his various works at different times with abbreviated pseudonyms (cryptonyms). For example, the article on underground gasification of coal “One of the great victories of technology” 2 is signed with the letter “ AND"; another article - “About our agrarian program” 3 ends with a solid sign ( -ъ).
And each of these articles, containing a huge wealth of thoughts, a sober scientific analysis of the present, a penetrating look into the future, is modestly signed with only one letter. How right the old Russian poet was when he argued that under a modest letter one can sometimes find “a great mind, an enormous talent”!..
* Abbreviated pseudonyms are usually called cryptonyms.
SEARCH AND PROVE!
Many of Lenin's pseudonyms do not require much explanation. These are, for example, Bolshevik, Russian communist, Petersburger etc. Everything is very clear here. Who, for example, would doubt the legitimacy of the pseudonym “Bolshevik”? Or who will doubt the pseudonym “Russian Communist”? But among Lenin’s pseudonyms there are also those for which, as they say, no clues can be found. Here it is difficult to find not only evidence, but also guesses.
Here's an example. In January 1917, Vladimir
Ilyich began working on the brochure “Statistics and Sociology.” This unfinished work was published in the 30th volume of the Complete Works of V. I. Lenin, signed: P. Piryuchev. 1
Vladimir Ilyich’s sister, M.I. Ulyanova, wrote in her memoirs that the pseudonym “P. Piryuchev" Lenin took it for himself in order to facilitate the publication of this work. 2 But why “Piryuchev”? Is this a random nickname or is it connected with some associations? Unknown. In the same way, the origin of a number of other pseudonyms of V.I. Lenin is unknown, such as, for example, B. V. Kuprianov, N. Konstantinov, P. Osipov, R. Silin, Karich, A. Linitsch etc.
The origin of the pseudonym “Karpov,” about which we had a detailed conversation, remains unclear and undocumented. What is the history of most alphabetic pseudonyms, covering almost half of the Russian alphabet?
Of course, we must keep in mind that some pseudonyms were taken completely by chance, and sometimes, perhaps, without the participation of V.I. Lenin. Yu. I. Masanov in his book 3 provides a lengthy quotation characterizing the conditions and practice of work of pre-revolutionary party editorial offices (in particular, the editorial office of the Marxist magazine “Prosveshchenie”). This quote sheds some light on the issue that interests us. Here’s what was written about this in the book “From the era of “Star” and “Pravda”” 4: “To make the running of the magazine (Enlightenment. - I.V.) more secretive, we very often hid the real authors of articles, inventing them corresponding Russian pseudonyms. So, for example, there is some question about the State Duma, it is necessary to whip the Cadets properly, etc., articles appear signed by a Petersburger (read Lenin), his legal and seemingly long-forgotten pseudonyms are used, like K. Tulin , or simply come up with pseudonyms that are completely unknown even abroad.”
This means that in some cases Lenin might not even know that any of his articles was signed “ B.B."or, let's say, " V.V." etc.
And yet, what is possible must be explained and proven.
It should be noted here that when researching and interpreting Lenin’s pseudonyms, it is sometimes easy to fall into error.
So, for example, in the “Chronological Index to the Works of V. I. Lenin” you can find a bibliographic reference with the following content:
“Mandate to P. A. Krasikov. February 1 (14), 1905a. Signed: “Membreadjoint pour l’etranger du Bureau Central P. Stepanoff**.” 5
In Russian, this signature reads like this: “Authorizer of the Central Bureau for Foreign Affairs P. Stepanov.”
The question arises: is “P. Stepanov" another unknown pseudonym for Lenin? Why is this name not in the list of pseudonyms? Yes, because “P. Stepanov" is a pseudonym not of Lenin, but of another party leader of that time - A. M. Essen. This mandate was issued by V. I. Lenin himself, and signed by A. M. Essen (P. Stepanoff). As we see, not every signature-surname, even on Lenin’s autograph, is his pseudonym.
While examining the publication of Lenin's works in periodicals, researchers discovered individual typos and errors that could be misleading regarding some of the new pseudonyms. Thus, in 1917, the Estonian newspaper Kiir published Lenin’s “Open Letter to the Delegates of the All-Russian Congress of Peasant Deputies”, signed N. Janin (N. Yanin). V.I. Lenin never had such a pseudonym, and now this error, like some others similar to it, has been corrected in the book “Auxiliary Indexes to the Chronological Index of V.I. Lenin’s Works.” 6
Above we cited a number of surnames (Tulin, Petrov, Frey, Meyer, etc.), which over time became the literary pseudonyms of V.I. Lenin. He signed his works, letters, and party documents with these names, and they are included in the list of Lenin’s pseudonyms.
But the Bulgarian surname Jordanov, under which Lenin lived for some time in Munich, was never used by him in this capacity. At one time this surname in a slightly modified transcription ( Yurdanov) was included in the list of Lenin's pseudonyms. It is in the reference volume for the 4th edition of the Works of V. I. Lenin, and it is also in the dictionary of I. F. Masanov. However, it later turned out that Vladimir Ilyich did not sign any of his works with the surname Iordanov or Yurdanov, and therefore it is no longer included in the list of Lenin’s pseudonyms.
Or here's another last name - Chkheidze. As is known, this surname belonged to one of the leaders of the Russian Mensheviks (N. S. Chkheidze), who was the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the first convocation in 1917.
It turns out that in 1906, upon returning to St. Petersburg from Stockholm from the IV (Unification) Congress of the RSDLP, Vladimir Ilyich lived for several days under the name Chkheidze in house No. 18 - 20 on Zabalkansky (now Moskovsky) Avenue. 7 Most likely, this name appeared in a false passport that was accidentally obtained for registration, and it had nothing to do with N. S. Chkheidze. And it goes without saying that this completely random secret surname did not and could not become Lenin’s pseudonym.
The work of searching for and deciphering Lenin's pseudonyms cannot be considered complete. After all, not all of Lenin’s literary heritage has yet been collected. Arrests and exiles, underground and emigration, frequent moves from country to country, from city to city led to the fact that a significant part of the priceless Lenin archives was lost. For example, the famous Poronin archive of V.I. Lenin was not completely found. The fate of the so-called “Artsybush treasure”, which contains many letters from Vladimir Ilyich written during the period of his Siberian exile, is also unknown. The archive from Lenin's office in Smolny 8 was lost, etc.
Each volume of the Complete Works of V.I. Lenin contains lists of his works, hitherto undiscovered.
Every year historians find more and more articles and notes, letters and recordings of Lenin. At the same time, new pseudonyms are identified. Here's one example. This book was already in production when the 49th volume of the Complete Works of V.I. Lenin was published. This volume contains two hitherto unknown pseudonyms - “Uncle” and “Bazil”. In particular, the pseudonym “Bazil” was used to sign Vladimir Ilyich’s first published letter to Inessa Armand dated January 19, 1916. 9 Lost or unknown works of Lenin will undoubtedly continue to be discovered. And then, perhaps, it will be possible to directly or indirectly establish the secret of Lenin’s undeciphered pseudonyms.
Those individual guesses and assumptions that are expressed in this book also need documentary confirmation.
In a word, we must search and find evidence! The topic of Lenin's pseudonyms awaits further extensive and in-depth research.
Annex 1
Alphabetical index of pseudonyms of V. I. Lenin*
B.V. Kuprianov
Bolshevik
V. Ilyin Vl.
Vl. Ilyin
Vl. Ilyin (Lenin)
Vlad. Ilyin
Vl. Lenin
William Frey
Iv. Petrov
K. Ivanov
K. F. Karich
Lenin (V. Ulyanov)
N Konstantinov
(N. Lenin)
N. Lenin
N. Lenin (V. Ulyanov)
N. Lenin (V. I. Ulyanov)
N. Lenin (Vl. Ulyanov)
Observer
Non-MP
Non-liberal skeptic
P. Osipov
P. Piryuchev
Petersburger
Outsider
Regular reader of Pravda
Almost a conciliator
Pravdist
Russian communist
"Path of Truth" employee
Old Man and Co.
Statistician
Reader
Reader of Pravda and Luch
Jacob Richter, Dr.
Un communiste Russe
Jacob Richter. LLD.
Lenin (W. Oulianoff)
Lenin (Wl. Uljanow)
N. Lenin (VI. Oulianoff)
N. Lenin (Wl. Ulianow)
N. Lenin (Wl. Uljanow)
N. Lenine (Wl. Oulianoff)
N. Lenine (Wl. Uljanow)
Russian Communist
V. I. Lenine W.
* Auxiliary indexes to the Chronological Index of V. I. Lenin’s works. Politizdat, 1963, pp. 389 - 392.
Appendix 2
Pseudonyms, nicknames and secret surnames not included in the alphabetical index of pseudonyms of V. I. Lenin
V. I. Ivanovsky
John Frey
Ivan Ivanovich
Jordan Jordanov
Konstantin Petrovich Ivanov
Nikolai Petrovich
N. Lenivtsyn
Signor Drink-drink
Tyapkin-Lyapkin
Fedor Petrovich
F. F. Ivanovsky
Appendix 3
Literary sources
The owner of a hundred names
1 Lenin collection XXI, p. 57.
2 Autobiographical statements of V.I. Lenin.
"New World", 1963, No. 7, p. 192.
3 “Auxiliary indexes to the Chronological Index of V. I. Lenin’s works.” Gospolitizdat, 1963, pp. 389-392.
Reference volume for the 4th ed. Works of V. I. Lenin, part 2. Gospolitizdat, 1956, pp. 129 - 130.
I. F. Masanov. Dictionary of pseudonyms of Russian writers, scientists and public figures, vol. 4. M., Publishing House of the All-Union Book Chamber, 1960, pp. 277 - 278.
The very first
1 M. I. Ulyanova. About Lenin. Politizdat, 1964, pp. 27 - 28.
2 A. I. Ulyanova-Elizarova. "Subbotnik" magazine. Collection "Stories about Lenin". M., Detgiz, 1957, pp. 28 - 29.
A. Ivanovsky. Young Lenin. Politizdat, 1964, pp. 97 - 98.
G. Volin. V.I. Lenin in the Volga region. Gospolitizdat, 1955, p. 18.
3 R. Peresvetov. Three lives of one article. “Science and Life”, 1963, No. 12.
4 Ts. S. Zelikson (Bobrovskaya). Unforgettable meetings. Collection “Memories of V.I. Lenin”. Gospolitizdat, 1955, p. 36.
"Petersburg" vs. "V. IN."
1 Collection “The City of the Great Lenin”. Lenizdat, 1957, p. 6.
2 V. D. Bonch-Bruevich. My first meeting with V.I. Lenin. Selected works, vol. 2. Publishing house of the USSR Academy of Sciences, M., 1961, pp. 165 - 174.
S. Mickiewicz. V.I. Lenin and the first Moscow Marxist organization of 1893 - 1893. Collection “Memories of V.I. Lenin”, vol. 1, Gospolitizdat, 1956, pp. 152 - 153.
3 History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, vol. 1. Politizdat, 1964, p. 198.
Party nickname or joke?
1 M. A. Silvin. Lenin during the birth of the party. Lenizdat, 1958, p. 56.
2 A. I. Ulyanova-Elizarova. About Ilyich.
Collection “Memories of V.I. Lenin”, vol. 1, pp. 41 - 42.
Nikolai Petrovich and lawyer Ulyanov
1 History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, vol. 1, p. 217.
2 V. A. Knyazev. Nikolai Petrovich. Collection “Memories of V. I. Lenin”, vol. 1, p. 136.
3 S. Motovilova. The past. "New World", 1963, No. 12, p. 120.
Young "Old Man"
1 G. M. Krzhizhanovsky. About Vladimir Ilyich.
Collection “Memories of V.I. Lenin”, vol. 1, pp. 175 - 176.
2 Ts. S. Zeliken (Bobrovskaya). Unforgettable meetings. Collection “Memories of V.I. Lenin”, Gospolitizdat, 1955, p. 36.
3 S. V. Markov. At the "Vaza" dacha. “Banner”, 1956, No. 4, pp. 135 - 139.
4 V. I. Lenin. Full collection soch., vol. 8, pp. 170 - 174.
5 V.V. Gorbunov, G.M. Yakovlev. Leaflet by V.I. Lenin about the Russian-Japanese War. “Questions of the history of the CPSU”, 1960, No. 1, p. 122.
Ilyin - son of Ilya
1 G. M. Deitch. Stories about Lenin and Lenin's Iskra. Sverdlovsk, 1964, p. 37.
2 Prof. S. A. Vengerov. Critical-biographical dictionary of Russian writers and scientists, vol. I. Pg., 1915, p. 322.
3 Encyclopedic Dictionary of the t-va br. Garnet, vol. 28. 1915, pp. 219-243.
4 Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Biography. Gospolitizdat, 1963, p. 93.
5 M. Fofanova. Ilyich before October 1917.
Collection “Memories of V. I. Lenin”, vol. 1, p. 620.
6 L. Uspensky. You and your name. L., Detgiz, 1960, p. 138.
Main and main
1 “Chronological index to the works of V. I. Lenin”, part 1, page 57.
Lenin collection III, pp. 128 - 130.
2 Prof. S. A. Vengerov. Critical-biographical dictionary of Russian writers and scientists, vol. II. Pg., 1916, p. 31.
3 Exposition of the Central Museum of V.I. Lenin in Moscow.
4 Ts. S. Bobrovskaya (Zelikson). Notes of an underground worker. Gospolitizdat, 1957, p. 47.
5 V. Sergeeva. When did Vladimir Ilyich choose the pseudonym Lenin? "Young Communist", 1960, No. 4, p. 117.
What does the letter "N" mean?
1 His shining banner. Writers and public figures about Lenin. "Moscow", 1960, No. 4, p. 4. Bernard Shaw. Dedicatory inscription on the book “Back to Methuselah.” "Foreign Literature", 1957, No. 4, p. 27.
2 V. Nezval. Proclamation of Nikolai Lenin. Collection “In the Hearts of Nations”. M., Foreign Literature Publishing House, 1957, p. 336.
Proud name
1 Juan Pereira. A Portuguese named Lenin. "Coeval", 1962, No. 1.
3 A. Sakhnin. They know him by name. "Moscow", 1964, No. 1.
Who was Frey?
1 V. I. Lenin. Full collection soch., vol. 6, p. 203.
2 Lenin collection XI, p. 322.
3 V. I. Lenin. Full collection cit., vol. 48, p. 61.
4 Uno Villers. Speech at the celebration of the centenary of the library named after V. I. Lenin. “Literary Newspaper”, 1962, July 3, No. 78.
This is our Meyer!
1 Miroslav Ivanov. Lenin in Prague. Gospolitizdat, 1963, p. 34.
2 N.K. Krupskaya. Memories of Lenin. Gospolitizdat, 1957, pp. 41 - 42.
3 Milan Jaros. In Prague. Collection “Through the Eyes of Humanity”, M., Detgiz, 1957.
4 Egon Erwin Kisch. Greetings from Comrade Lenin. “East Siberian Truth”, 1956, April 22, No. 94.
5 Xaver Streb. Lenin in Germany. Gospolitizdat, 1959, p. 55.
Mr Richter in London
1 M. Novoselov. Ivan Vasilievich Babushkin. M., “Young Guard”, 1954, p. 263.
2 N.K. Krupskaya. Memories of Lenin, p. 60.
3 N. A. Alekseev. V.I. Lenin in London. Collection “Memories of V.I. Lenin”, vol. 1, p. 250.
4 "Lenin in the British Museum". "Foreign Literature", 1957, No. 4, p. 21.
5 N. A. Alekseev. From the past to the present day. "Week", 1961, No. 37.
"Unknown Karpov"
1 V. M. Smirnov. Meetings with Lenin in Finland. Collection “Memories of V.I. Lenin”, vol. 1, p. 396.
2 A. Schlichter. Ilyich's first speech at an open meeting in Russia. Collection “Memories of V.I. Lenin”, vol. 1, p. 386.
3 P. E. Nikitin. V.I. Lenin among the St. Petersburg workers. L., publishing house "Znanie", 1964, pp. 19 - 20.
4 S. V. Markov. At the "Vaza" dacha. “Banner”, 1956, No. 4, pp. 135 - 139.
Signor Drink-drink
1 M. Gorky. V. I. Lenin. Collection “Memories of V. I. Lenin”, vol. 1, p. 434.
2 Collection “V. I. Lenin and A. M. Gorky. Letters, memories, documents." M., Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1961, p. 231.
3 P. Raichev. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Collection “Memoirs of Foreign Contemporaries”. Gospolitizdat, 1962, p. 100.
4 V. S. Kurbatova-Vlasova. In a Swiss train. Collection “About Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Memories. 1900 - 1922". Gospolitizdat, 1963, p. 162.
5 P. Raichev. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, page 103.
Loiko or Leshchenko?
1 V. I. Lenin. Full collection cit., vol. 21, pp. 160, 229.
2 Ibid., p. 226.
4 I. F. Masanov. Dictionary of pseudonyms of Russian writers, scientists and public figures, vol. 2, p. 104.
5 B. S. Shneerson. Bibliographic index to the XX additional volume of the Collected Works of N. Lenin (V. Ulyanov). M. - L., GIZ, 1927, p. 60.
6 S. Yurov. Traveling through an address book. "Moscow", 1963, No. 4, p. 7.
7 D. I. Leshchenko. Memories. Collection “Memories of V.I. Lenin”, vol. 3. Gospolitizdat, 1960, pp. 65-69.
8 N.K. Krupskaya. Memories of Lenin. Gospolitizdat, 1957, p. 120.
No, not only the reader!
1 L. Acceleration. Your own, the closest one. M., Detgiz, 1962, p. 17.
2 Collection “V. And Lenin and Pravda." M., Pravda Publishing House, 1962, pp. 7, 507 - 662.
3 V. I. Lenin. Full collection soch., vol. 21, p. 470.
4 Ibid., p. 368.
5 V. I. Lenin. Full collection soch., vol. 22, p. 209.
6 TOC \o "1-5" \h \z V. I. Lenin. Full collection cit., vol. 24, p. 21.
7 V. I. Lenin. Full collection soch., vol. 22, p. 145.
8 V. I. Lenin. Full collection cit., vol. 23, p. 172.
9 V. I. Lenin. Full collection soch., vol. 25, p. 162.
Nickname - paradox
1 M. N. Pokrovsky. How "Imperialism" was born. Collection “Memories of V.I. Lenin”, vol. 3, p. 134.
2 R. Peresvetov. They were considered lost. "Culture and Life", 1963, No. 4.
M. R. Heifetz. Find in the Parus archive. "Ogonyok", 1963, No. 40.
3 V. I. Lenin. Poly, collected, soch., vol. 49, p. 259.
4 V. I. Lenin. Full collection soch., vol. 28, p. 220.
5 Collection “V. I. Lenin and A. M. Gorky.” M., Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1961, pp. 229, 448.
Why "Ivanovsky"?
1 V. I. Lenin. Full collection soch., vol. 33, pp. 1, 2.
2 N. A. Emelyanov. In the last underground. Collection “Memories of V. I. Lenin”, vol. 1, p. 610.
3 New documents of V. I. Lenin. “Questions of the history of the CPSU”, 1958, No. 4, p. 32.
Under a modest letter
1 V. I. Lenin. Full collection soch., vol. 22, pp. 69 - 71.
2 V. I. Lenin. Full collection soch., vol. 23, pp. 93 - 95.
3 V. I. Lenin. Full collection soch., vol. 9, pp. 356 - 361.
Search and prove!
1 V. I. Lenin. Full collection soch., vol. 30, p. 356.
2 M. I. Ulyanova. About Lenin. Politizdat, 1964, p. 47.
3 Yu. I. Masanov. In the world of pseudonyms, anonymous names and literary forgeries. M., Publishing House of the All-Union Book Chamber, 1963, p. 55.
4 From the era of “Star” and “Pravda”, no. 3. M. - Pg., 1923, p. 47.
5 “Chronological index to works
V. I. Lenin", part 1, page 170.
Lenin collection XXVI, 1934, p. 422.
6 “Auxiliary pointers...”, p. 400.
7 Collection “Lenin in St. Petersburg”. Lenizdat, 1957,
8 R. Peresvetov. The search for a priceless heritage.
(About the fate of some manuscripts of V.I. Lenin). Gospolitizdat, 1963, pp. 140, 237, 306.
R. Peresvetov. The search was not in vain. “Paths to the Unknown”, collection. 3. M., publishing house "Soviet Writer", 1963, p. 38.
M. Veselii a. How Lenin's documents are searched for and stored. "Young Technician", 1962, No. 1.
A. Soloviev, L. Vinogradov. The search for an immortal heritage. "Izvestia", 1963, April 19. Shaft. Goltsev. And you meet Ilyich again. "Izvestia", 1964, April 23.
9 V. I. Lenin. Full collection cit., vol. 49, p. 176.
Possessor of a hundred names 7
The very first 11
"Petersburg" vs. "V. IN." 16
Party nickname or joke? 20
Nikolai Petrovich and lawyer Ulyanov 22
Young "Old Man" 26
Ilyin - son of Ilya 31
Basic and main 38
What does the letter "N" mean? 43
Proud name 45
Who was Frey? 49
This is our Meyer! 52
Mr Richter in London 56
"Unknown Karpov" 62
Signor Drink-drin 68
Loiko or Leshchenko? 72
No, not only the reader! 76
Nickname-paradox 82
Why "Ivanovsky"? 85
Under the modest letter 93
Search and prove! 96
Appendix 1. Alphabetical index of pseudonyms of V. I. Lenin 102
Appendix 2. Pseudonyms, nicknames and secret surnames not included in the alphabetical index of pseudonyms of V. I. Lenin 104
Appendix 3. Literary sources 105
I was “lucky”: I was born in the USSR and started going to school when the Soviet Union was still alive, although it was already on its last legs. And I remember well how in the first and second grades we learned poems about the good Lenin's grandfather. There were many portraits of him at school. On some he was strict" Vladimir Lenin", and on some young " Volodya Ulyanov" But I don’t remember anyone telling us why he has two last names. But in vain, because the story is quite interesting.
Why Lenin Lenin
Young Social Democrat and Revolutionary Volodya Ulyanov until he finally became Lenin, used more than 150 aliases. It is known that for the first time he signed as “N. Lenin" in 1901.
There are several main versions of why " Lenin»:
- In honor of the river Lena.
- In memory of "Lena execution" workers.
- In honor of the German monastery Kloster Lehnin.
- Because of the passport real existing Nikolai Lenin.
![](https://i0.wp.com/s1.travelask.ru/system/images/files/000/379/755/wysiwyg/3.jpg)
There is no particular evidence in favor of the first version. Besides the fact that Ulyanov's comrade Plekhanov became Volgin, therefore Ulyanov decided to become Lenin. The second version is completely missed. Because the execution (according to various sources) of 150 to 250 workers of the Lena Gold Mining Partnership happened in April 1912.
Regarding the version with the monastery, and this assumption was made by the historian Pavel Pryanikov, everything here is beyond confusing. As if Ulyanov, who named himself after the Kloster Lehnin monastery, thus hinting to the German revolutionaries about his special disposition towards Germany.
![](https://i0.wp.com/s2.travelask.ru/system/images/files/000/379/751/wysiwyg/1.jpg)
But to send such veiled signals? Hardly.
Correct answer
More likely, This is how Ulyanov became Lenin. In 1900 he needed to go abroad. Fearing that he would not be released, he looked for an opportunity to forge documents. How did the relatives of the then elderly and very ill State Councilor Nikolai Lenin, who sympathized with the revolutionaries, help? The daughter of this same Nikolai Lenin was familiar with Nadezhda Krupskaya and, having learned about Volodya Ulyanov’s problems, simply stole her father’s passport. A Volodya pasted his photo there and “corrected” his date of birth. And in such a simple way, V. Ulyanov became “N. Lenin." And the real Nikolai Lenin soon died, so everything with this passport turned out quite well for Ulyanov.
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) can rightfully be called the greatest man of the 20th century. He truly changed the world. Whether it is good or not for this very world is a controversial issue, but it does not detract from its achievements. But what prompted him to perform such a radical action still remains a mystery.
The irony of history is that the socialist revolution in the name of the poor was carried out by a man from a very wealthy family. The Ulyanovs were definitely not poor. Lenin's father, Ilya Nikolaevich, rose to the rank of inspector of public schools in the Simbirsk province, and in the Table of Ranks - to the rank of general, actual state councilor, which gave his family hereditary nobility. The whole family lived on his salary, and then on his pension, and at the same time had a house in Simbirsk and the Kokushkino estate.
Ancestral curse
To explain this paradox, certain mystical versions involuntarily arise. The legend of the curse of the Kennedy clan is widely known due to the fact that one of its founders, Patrick Joseph, was a raider, and his son Joseph Patrick was a bootlegger. But there is also a version about the curse that haunted Lenin’s family. The fact is that his ancestor Moishe Blank was involved in the sale of alcoholic beverages and was dishonest. They say that he was accused in court of fraud and stealing someone else's hay, but bought his way out of punishment. Then he was allegedly caught setting fire to the houses of 23 fellow believers in Starokonstantinov, and, in order to avert suspicion from himself, he set fire to his own house. His sons, in order not to spoil their reputation with their father’s bad “glory,” converted to Orthodoxy and changed their names and patronymics. Abel became Dmitry, and Srul became Alexander. But this did not get rid of the curse, possibly sent by the fire victims, neither them nor their descendants. And a manifestation of this curse was that the eldest sons in the Blank-Ulyanov family died an unnatural death at a young age. The first of them was cursed by Abel-Dmitry, and the last by Lenin's older brother, Alexander Ulyanov.
And if we consider that the psychologist from Gunter Kruse, compiling the genealogy of Vladimir Ulyanov, discovered that one of the great-grandmothers of the leader of the world proletariat was burned at the stake as a witch in the 13th century, then the mystical version does not seem so incredible. None other than dark forces had a hand in ensuring that Lenin destroyed the Russian Empire.
The second paradox lies in the “slippery” national question. However, to be disingenuous, the October Revolution was carried out mainly by people from the Jewish Pale of Settlement. All Lenin's closest associates - Sverdlov, Trotsky, Kamenev and others - came from Jewish families. Moreover, they constituted the overwhelming majority in almost all revolutionary parties.
Why they needed the revolution is clear. Since the time of Empress Catherine the Great, their rights have been infringed. The so-called Pale of Settlement applied to them, and there were restrictions on studying in higher educational institutions. To receive full rights, Jews had to convert to Orthodoxy. Lenin’s ancestors, Abel and Srul Blank, followed this path. Their baptism took place in July 1820 in Sampsonievsky Cathedral in St. Petersburg, after which they received full right to live and work in the capital. However, renegade spoiled their relations with their former co-religionists. Vladimir Lenin, who had these roots, clearly sympathized with the Jews. For example, his phrase became famous: “All Russians are fools, but if you meet a smart one, he will certainly be a Jew.” Therefore, it is not surprising that it was with them that he made the revolution in Russia.
Revenge for brother
The most beautiful version of why Lenin “got on” with the autocracy is revenge for his brother. His elder brother Alexander was hanged by court on May 20, 1887 for his participation in the assassination attempt on Emperor Alexander III. And although there were no reprisals for the terrorist’s family, the Ulyanovs felt like outcasts. Nadezhda Krupskaya wrote: “ Then, when we became closely acquainted, Vladimir Ilyich once told me how “society” reacted to the arrest of his older brother. All our acquaintances retreated from the Ulyanov family; even the old teacher, who used to always come to play chess in the evenings, stopped coming. At that time there was no railway from Simbirsk; Vladimir Ilyich’s mother had to ride horses to Syzran to get to St. Petersburg, where her son was imprisoned. Vladimir Ilyich was sent to look for a travel companion - no one wanted to go with the mother of the arrested man. This general “cowardice” made, according to Vladimir Ilyich, a very strong impression on him then».
And the Polish revolutionary Antony Ferdinand Ossendowski, who personally knew Lenin, wrote: “ The death of his brother, the tears of his mother, surveillance by the gendarmes, constant searches, taunts from teachers, ridicule, contempt from rich friends, stupid, disgusting moral teachings of the priest from the gymnasium awakened in him hatred and a thirst for revenge... Very early he began to prepare for revenge for the death of his brother and for the oppression of the people, he raised himself as a sober, cold avenger and leader ».
So it turned out that Nicholas II, who was shot along with his entire family in the basement of Ipatiev’s house, and all the priests and all the old teachers throughout Russia, who were deprived of their usual way of life, paid cruelly for the execution of the terrorist Alexander Ulyanov.
Volodya Ulyanov demonstrated his intelligence and extraordinary abilities as a child. One of his classmates recalled: “He had absolutely exceptional abilities, had an enormous memory, was distinguished by insatiable scientific curiosity and extraordinary efficiency... Truly, he was a walking encyclopedia...” However, for a number of reasons, he was able to realize himself only in the revolutionary field.
The status of “terrorist brother” did not prevent Vladimir Ulyanov from entering Kazan University. True, he studied there for only three months and was expelled for participating in student riots. In order to keep him busy, his mother persuaded Vladimir to become the manager of the Alakaevka estate she bought in the Samara province. However, real peasants turned out to be far from those that the revolutionaries talked about. Taking advantage of the inexperience of the new owners of Alakaevka, they stole a horse and two cows from them. Perhaps that is why, in the coming revolution, Lenin decided to make the proletariat the hegemon, and leave the unreliable peasantry in secondary roles.
Soon the Ulyanovs realized that they were not landowners. Therefore, they first rented out the estate and then sold it completely. But Lenin managed to pass exams as an external student at the Imperial St. Petersburg University and receive a law degree. However, unreliability closed the possibility of public service for him. The only job he was able to get was the position of assistant attorney (lawyer). In this capacity, Ulyanov participated in 16 criminal and 4 civil cases in the Samara District Court. Of his 24 clients, most were peasants and laborers. Their defense was a noble cause from the point of view of socialist ideology, but it is not difficult to understand that endowed with enormous ambitions, Vladimir, who talked about the world revolution, was, to put it mildly, annoyed that he had to delve into small matters and protect various marginalized people. For example, the peasants Oparin and Sakharov, who stole several scarves from a merchant’s chest. Therefore, it is not surprising that he soon left this service.
They say that Karl Marx lived his entire life on the money of his wife and friend, Friedrich Engels. Lenin first lived on funds received from his mother, in fact, on his father’s pension, which was paid to his family after his death. And then with party money. He worked as an assistant attorney in 1892. And already in 1893, while in St. Petersburg, 23-year-old Volodya wrote to his mother: “I’ll ask you to send some money: mine is coming to an end... It turned out that in the month from 9/9 to 9/X I spent only 54 rubles. 30 kopecks, not counting the payment for things (about 10 rubles) and the costs of one court case (also about 10 rubles).”
According to the text of the letter, he spent 54 rubles. At the same time, the father’s pension was 100 rubles, and no one in the Ulyanov family worked. His younger brother Dmitry began working only at the age of 27. So Vladimir Ulyanov became the “breadwinner” in the family only many years later, when he headed the Soviet Republic.
And then at the end of the 19th century, having failed to become a lawyer, Lenin became a professional revolutionary.
Unhealthy psyche
Modern psychiatrists say that Lenin had a symptom of split personality. And that in general his psyche was not all right. And as proof they cite the fact that in childhood he had signs of developmental delay. His sister Anna talked about little Volodya: “A loud, hysterical boy, he began to walk only at three years old, as well as to speak after three. Having fallen, he did not get up, but hit his head on the floor. After three years, hysterics became so frequent that his mother was forced to sit him in a special black chair, very worried about her son’s psyche, seriously considering him crazy.”
Lenin is said to have had a high level of basal anxiety. This was manifested in his irrepressible energy and in the fact that he saw enemies in everyone. May be so. Lenin made compromises in the form of temporary alliances, but in principle in politics he did not make friends, but fought. He constantly disengaged, broke away, split political factions and groups. All former allies - Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries, anarchists and others - sooner or later became his enemies.
Surprisingly, thanks to his “quarrelsomeness,” Lenin found a lever that allowed him to turn the world upside down. At first, Vladimir, when he was an estate manager and an assistant lawyer, became disillusioned with the peasantry. Then, at the beginning of the 20th century, he became disillusioned with the working class. Having gone abroad in 1900 and looking at the well-fed and contented proletariat in Germany, Lenin came to the conclusion that the industrial proletariat itself was not revolutionary and was inclined only to economic demands (“trade unionism”), after which in 1902 in the work “What to do? Urgent issues of our movement,” he came up with his own concept of the party, which he saw as a centralized militant organization. In this article he wrote: “Give us an organization of revolutionaries, and we will turn Russia over!”
He created such a party. And in 1917, with a handful of like-minded Bolsheviks, he really “turned Russia upside down.”
Being and Consciousness
Being does not at all determine consciousness. And the best example of this is Lenin. What was his life after 20 years? A nondescript young man with a thin beard, looking like an old man, it is no coincidence that his first pseudonym was Old Man. At the same time, there is no work, no money, no prospects. There are no children, no close friends, an unloved, ugly and uneconomical wife, with whom the marriage was concluded for convenience. When making an offer to Nadezhda Krupskaya, he gave the only argument: “Being together is more convenient for business.”
On the other hand, what was his consciousness: huge ambitions and a sense of great potential. It is clear that, despite all his professional unsettlement, Vladimir Ilyich was confident that he was capable of much. Which he clearly demonstrated later. There is no doubt about Lenin's genius. It was not for nothing that his works were taken into account in Soviet times and are still cited today. Lenin proved to the whole world that he was a man endowed with phenomenal organizational abilities. It’s no joke, take power over vast Russia, radically change its political system, defeat the armies of the famous tsarist generals in the Civil War.
This contradiction between being and consciousness led Lenin to organize and lead the October Revolution of 1917. What is done is done. When you lose your head, you don't cry over your hair. And whatever reasons Lenin had for destroying the old world to the ground and trying to build a new one, it must be admitted that the country and the people allowed him to carry out this terrible social experiment on themselves.
Why Lenin?
In fact, Ulyanov became Lenin after in 1900, in order to travel abroad, with the help of a bribe, he obtained an exit passport in Pskov with the surname “Lenin”. The passport was not useful, since the real Lenin was forty years older than Vladimir Ulyanov, and also a famous person and nobleman. Vladimir did not dare to use this passport, but from 1901 he began to sign his articles with the pseudonym “N. Lenin."When I was studying at the University, they explained to us that Ulyanov took the pseudonym “Lenin” after the so-called “Lena executions,” when a large uprising of workers was suppressed in the mines near the Lena River in Yakutia. It went from there - Ulyanov was very impressed...Researchers of the life of the leader of the world proletariat have three versions of the appearance of the pseudonym Lenin.
Version one: imitated Plekhanov
It is considered by other researchers of Ilyich’s life: in honor of the Lena River. But Ilyich was not in exile on Lena. True, in 1912, at the Lena gold mines, the authorities shot strikers. Ulyanov was allegedly greatly shocked by these events after reading Vladimir Korolenko’s essay about them. However, historians say that the Lena events occurred after he took this pseudonym. The signature “Lenin” first appeared in 1901 in a letter from Ilyich to Georgy Plekhanov. By the way, Ulyanov could have chosen such a signature by analogy with one of Plekhanov’s pseudonyms - “Volgin” (in honor of the great Russian river Volga). So “Lenin” may simply be an imitation.
Version two: stole the agronomist’s name
Ilyich often used pseudonyms. He had more than a hundred of them, he often signed his articles simply with initials, but more often with the names K. Tulin, Petrov, Karpov, K. Ivanov, R. Silin. Then Ulyanov often quoted the then famous agronomist and public figure Sergei Nikolaevich Lenin. I could have borrowed the scientist’s real name for a pseudonym.
Version three: got used to someone else’s passport
In 1900, when Vladimir Ulyanov had to go abroad, he submitted a petition to the Pskov governor for the issuance of a foreign passport. However, he was afraid that due to revolutionary activities he would not receive a passport. Therefore, his wife, Nadezhda Konstantinovna, asked her friend from evening school Olga Nikolaevna Lenina, and she asked her brother Sergei to help Ilyich. To do this, Olga and Sergei took the passport of their father, Nikolai Yegorovich Lenin, who was mortally ill. The date of birth in the passport was falsified (to match Ulyanov’s age). But it is not known what document Ilyich used to travel, because on May 5, 1900, he received the long-desired foreign passport in his name from the office of the Pskov governor. However, at the request of the owner of the printing house that printed the Zarya magazine, he presented him with a passport in the name of N. E. Lenin.
Be that as it may, after October 1917, the head of the Bolshevik Party and the new state signed all documents, articles, books with his real name, but added to it in parentheses his main pseudonym - V. Ulyanov (Lenin).
He who fights monsters must be careful not to become a monster himself. And if you look into the abyss for a long time, then the abyss also looks into you.
F. Nietzsche “Beyond Good and Evil” (c)
If I don't respond to someone in a thread, it doesn't mean you weren't noticed. Perhaps this is because I have no desire to communicate with those whom I consider narrow-minded, stupid or simply uninteresting citizens, and I do not want to enter into controversy with them