Art, obsession, and identity
Vladimir Lenin died over a century ago, on January 21, 1924. Shortly after his death, the Soviet authorities made a decision to embalm the body of the Russian communist revolutionary. Today, thanks to a remarkable achievement in biochemical engineering, it's possible to view Lenin more or less as he appeared on the day of his passing, lying in repose in a mausoleum on Red Square. But what are the secrets behind maintaining Lenin's embalmed state, and why is he still put out on public display in front of the Kremlin?
Click through and discover how they keep Lenin embalmed.
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Vladimir Lenin, was born in Streletskaya Ulitsa, Simbirsk, now Ulyanovsk, on April 22, 1870.
Lenin rose to become the founder of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), and played a prominent role in the Russian Revolution of 1917. He later served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1924, and of the Soviet Union, the world's first communist state, from 1922 to 1924.
In March 1923, already unwell, Lenin suffered a third stroke. Confined to a wheelchair, the communist revolutionary appeared a shadow of his former self, stiff with a right-sided hemiplegia and speechless. The following year, on January 21, 1924, Lenin died of a brain hemorrhage after falling into a coma. He was 53 years old.
The man charged with performing the autopsy on Lenin was renowned pathologist Aleksey Abrikosov (pictured). After this was completed, Lenin's body was temporarily embalmed.
Lenin's body was placed in a red coffin and carried by leading members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party from his home in Gorki to the district railway station.
After arriving at Moscow's Paveletsky train station, the coffin was held aloft by pallbearers and taken to the city's House of Trade Unions. Pictured leading the solemn cortege is Bolshevik revolutionary and politician Felix Dzherzhinsky.
Lenin's body lay in state for three days. Crowds of 50,000 mourners quickly lined up to see the body, many queuing for hours in the freezing conditions.
Initially, Lenin's body was supposed to be publicly displayed for a temporary period and then buried as per his wishes.
But as the number of mourners grew, the government moved the casket to a temporary wooden mausoleum on Red Square.
In frigid temperatures that hovered around 19°F (-7°C), nearly a million people eventually filed past Lenin's stiff corpse, set within its temporary tomb.
It was so cold that the cadaver remained intact, even after 50 days. But the onset of warmer weather threatened to degrade the body. It was then that Soviet officials decided to permanently preserve Lenin's corpse
The initial idea was to deep freeze Lenin's body. However, two well-respected biochemists, Vladimir Vorobyov and Boris Zbarsky, put forward the suggestion of embalming him with a chemical mixture that would prevent the corpse from decomposing. The authorities warmed to the idea, and Lenin's remains were transferred to Moscow's Center for Scientific Research and Teaching Methods in Biochemical Technologies. His temporary resting place was closed until further notice.
While the nation continued to mourn its late leader (the poster reads "Everywhere, always, with us completely,") Lenin's body was being treated with a cocktail of chemicals to prevent it from decomposing, drying up, and changing color and shape.
Meanwhile, a permanent mausoleum to house the body was being designed by architect Alexey Shchusev.
When the temporary mausoleum on Red Square finally reopened for visitors on August 1, 1924, those paying their respects to Lenin were absolutely astonished by what they saw. It was as if the great revolutionary was just taking a nap.
The new mausoleum was completed in 1930. Constructed of marble, porphyry, granite, and labradorite, the structure was also built to serve as a platform for Soviet leaders to review military parades on Red Square.
Lenin's body has been on almost continuous public display inside the mausoleum since its completion in 1930. But since 1924, a team of specialist scientists have been tasked with maintaining the body.
Lenin's tomb is covered with a glass case that protects the body from microbes and prevents it from drying out and decomposing. It's also preserved under carefully calculated temperature and lighting. Every few days scientists visit the mausoleum to check on the body.
Maintaining the integrity of the body includes washing and re-embalming it once every other year. This is a precise process that involves submerging the body in separate solutions of glycerol solution baths, formaldehyde, potassium acetate, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, acetic acid solution, and acetic sodium, according to Scientific American.
Paraffin, glycerin (pictured), and carotene are also applied to replace skin fat to restore the dermis.
Over the years, Lenin's nose, face, and other parts of his body have been resculpted to restore them to their original feel and appearance. In some cases, lost body parts have required replacements (a foot was misplaced in the 1940s). And his eyelashes are artificial, the originals having been damaged during the initial embalming procedures.
While Lenin's skeleton, muscles, skin, and other tissues have been preserved, all his internal organs have been removed. His brain was taken out to be studied by Soviet scientists interested in learning more about his "extraordinary abilities," according to The Moscow Times. Pieces of his brain are still preserved at the Neurology Centre at the Russian Academy of Sciences (pictured).
Housed underneath the mausoleum is a facility where specialists control the temperature, lighting, and humidity of the tomb and the glass-clad sarcophagus. The staff comprise part of what's known as "Lenin's Lab," a team of scientists that have been monitoring his body since his passing.
Lenin's mausoleum is of great symbolic significance. The monument takes center stage during the annual May Day and Victory Day celebrations.
In the 1960s during the height of the Cold War, the tomb took on an especially relevant significance, seen as it was as a symbol of anti-capitalism and a bulwark against the West.
And as a symbol of power, the mausoleum remains a vivid representation of the wistfulness many Russians continue to feel for the days of the USSR, writes Marty Rogachefsky in an article for Knight Scholar.
Lenin's mausoleum continues to attract national and international tourists who are curious to view what is certainly a remarkable feat of biochemical engineering. But with calls in favor of giving Vladimir Lenin a proper burial getting louder, it may be wise to start queuing up now.
Russian scientists believe Lenin can last in his embalmed state for centuries more. But the question whether to bury his corpse is asked by many. Furthermore, the cost of preserving Lenin's embalmed body continues to spiral.
According to Tass, the Russian News Agency, around 450,000 people visit the mausoleum every year. But it costs upwards of 13 million rubles (US$197,000) annually to maintain the body of the man who died a century ago.
Sources: (Scientific American) (The Guardian) (History) (Britannica) (BBC) (The New York Times) (Time) (The Moscow Times) (Knight Scholar) (Tass)
Lenin's body remains on display in Moscow more than 50 years after his death
The first leader of the Soviet Union died in 1924
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Vladimir Lenin died over a century ago, on January 21, 1924. Shortly after his death, the Soviet authorities made a decision to embalm the body of the Russian communist revolutionary. Today, thanks to a remarkable achievement in biochemical engineering, it's possible to view Lenin more or less as he appeared on the day of his passing, lying in repose in a mausoleum on Red Square. But what are the secrets behind maintaining Lenin's embalmed state, and why is he still put out on public display in front of the Kremlin?
Click through and discover how they keep Lenin embalmed.