2017-01-21 Sat

Vladimir Lenin, the first leader of the Soviet Union, dies of a brain haemorrhage on 21st January 1924 at the age of 54. Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov was born in Simbirsk, which was renamed Ulyanovsk in his honour. (He adopted the pseudonym Lenin in 1901).

Lenin was one of the leading political figures and revolutionary thinkers of the 20th century. He was the founder of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), the inspirer and leader of the Bolshevik Revolution (1917), and the architect, builder, and first head (1917–24) of the Soviet state.

He was the founder of the organisation known as Comintern (Communist International). Under his administration, Russia and then the wider Soviet Union became a one-party socialist state governed by the Russian Communist Party. Ideologically a Marxist, he developed political theories known as Leninism.

After the 1917 February Revolution ousted the Tsar and established a Provisional Government, Lenin played a leading role in the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks overthrew the new regime. Almost three years of civil war followed. The Bolsheviks were victorious and assumed total control of the country.

Widely considered one of the most significant and influential figures of the 20th century, Lenin was the posthumous subject of a pervasive personality cult within the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. He became an ideological figurehead behind Marxism-Leninism and thus a prominent influence over the international communist movement. Lenin became virtual dictator of the country.

In 1918, Lenin narrowly survived an assassination attempt but was severely wounded. His health was terminally affected, and in 1922 he suffered a stroke from which he never fully recovered. In his declining years, he worried about the bureaucratisation of the regime and also expressed concern over the increasing power of his eventual successor Joseph Stalin. Lenin died on 24 January 1924. His corpse was embalmed and placed in a mausoleum on Moscow's Red Square.

Lenin is depicted on numerous stamps issued by Russia. India Post issued a 20 Paise commemorative stamp in 1970 marking Lenin’s birth centenary. A 1 Rouble commemorative coin was released by Russia in 1970 featuring Lenin’s portrait on the obverse. Lenin also features on Soviet 10 rouble banknote from 1961, USSR’s 5 Chervontsev note from 1937 and the large 25 roubles, 50 roubles and 100 roubles banknotes issued in 1947.