Vladimir Lenin – The communist leader at rest
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is known as the first head of USSR or Soviet Union. Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, his perfectly preserved body still lives on and displayed at the Lenin Mausoleum. Ironically, neither Lenin nor his widow wanted his body to be preserved, let alone be gaped at by visitors and tourists.
During his last days, he was plaqued with health problems. He was also under constant assasination attempts. The first stroke had left him paralyzed on the right side. The second stroke made him resigned from Politics. Finally the third stroke left him completely paralyzed and bedridden which also made him lose the ability to talk. At the age of 53, Lenin finally gave his last breath in the year 1924. There were talks of having his body cryonically preserved so that he could be revived in the future. Since they could not build the freezer in time, it was opted to just have him embalmed instead.
What kept his body perfectly preserved was kept secret by the Soviet government during those times. Modern techniques are currently used to maintain Lenin’s perfectly preserved body. Every 18 months, his body is removed from mausoleum. Then his body would be immersed in glycerol and potassium acetate solution for 30 days. The treatment will keep the body moist, hence retains the lifelike texture.
Video of Lenin’s Embalmed body
Image credit: http://www.briankaneonline.com/2009/01/28/for-20-rubles-who-is-buried-in-lenins-tomb/
Credit: http://www.artukraine.com/historical/lenin_makeover.htm
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Tags: lenin mummy
Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 5:14 amand is filed under Mummy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 18th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
That’s not Lenin in the embalming video. Lenin was bald and has his right hand clenched. The guy in the video has both hands extended. Nice try Rooskies.