Lenin's Body Improves with Age

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lenin-s-body-improves-with-age1/

by lermontov • 11 years ago

74 71 11 years ago

I'm still amazed that this incredibly ghoulish display survived the fall of Communism all the way to this day.

Lenin was genuine. He did things out of perceived neccesity that many are critical of in hindsight, but few historians would argue Lenin wasn't actively trying to improve the lives of men. Many around the world have much respect for the man. This is a way that people honor him. The only reason to seriously object would be if it somehow went against his wishes.

gnoway• 11 years ago

It's hard to imagine, given your characterization of him, that Lenin would support this at all.

I think people who wish to honor the dead will do so regardless of whether there is a mummy or memory to honor. I think the preservation and display of Lenin, at the time, was a political stunt for political goals. I think they continue to do it today because for everyone involved, it's just something they've always done. There's no real purpose for it at this point.

smitherfield2• 11 years ago

In 1921, Lenin had his soldiers steal nearly all the grain produced on peasant farms, then distributed it amongst his soldiers and cronies while five million people died of starvation: https://www.google.com/search?q=soviet+famine+of+1921&source...

When America donated enough grain to relieve the famine, Lenin deliberately prevented it from reaching the starving rural peasants.

Lenin, by the way, purchased no fewer than nine Rolls-Royce cars during his brief reign.

I'll give you that he was genuine. So was Hitler.

Aloha4• 11 years ago

Indeed, Lenin however was an absolutist, and absolutists rarely come to a long term solution.

WalterBright• 11 years ago

He did things out of perceived neccesity that many are critical of in hindsight, but few historians would argue Lenin wasn't actively trying to improve the lives of men.

I bet most (all?) tyrants genuinely believe they are doing the right thing. Murderers in prison mostly believe their crimes were justified.

classicsnoot3• 11 years ago

I know this buzzfeed generation prefers 'top fives' and '20 mosts', but if you look at the history of Russia from ~1224 to now, it is hard to not think that Stalin has the top score solely because of technology, not brutality. if killing loads of people for vague reasons were in the olympics, russia would always win.

lotsofmangos4• 11 years ago

The only reason to seriously object would be if it somehow went against his wishes.

It did go against his wishes.

Htsthbjig• 11 years ago

"but few historians would argue Lenin wasn't actively trying to improve the lives of men."

So was Hitler. He wanted to improve the lives of Aryan Germans (at the expense of everyone that was not, like Polish, or Jews).

Lenin remains the biggest killer of nuns and religious people of the wold ever. He had a real problem with people deciding on their own not to follow him, so he killed a big part or Russian society.

While he did not dirty his hands directly, he gave the dirty orders that other people would follow. The dirty jobs pal of Lenin was called Stalin. Lenin wanted money, let's make Stalin rob a bank, Lenin wanted to remove someone, let's call Stalin again.

Of course, If you lie down with dogs, you'll wake up with fleas. Lenin was probably poisoned by Stalin, and the rest is History.

felipeerias• 11 years ago

This sums my own thoughts in the matter:

"If you are truly convinced that there is some solution to all human problems, that one can conceive an ideal society which men can reach if only they do what is necessary to attain it, then you and your followers must believe that no price can be too high to pay in order to open the gates of such a paradise. Only the stupid and malevolent will resist once certain simple truths are put to them. Those who resist must be persuaded; if they cannot be persuaded, laws must be passed to restrain them; if that does not work, then coercion, if need be violence, will inevitably have to be used—if necessary, terror, slaughter. Lenin believed this after reading Das Kapital, and consistently taught that if a just, peaceful, happy, free, virtuous society could be created by the means he advocated, then the end justified any methods that needed to be used, literally any."

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/oct/23/message...

vbezhenar2• 11 years ago

Lenin, Stalin are huge figures in Russia history. Many men worships them. They are generally not considered like evil in Russia. Lenin made communism under which USSR became the most powerful empire in the world and Stalin won second world war.

PS I'm not exactly agree to above statements. History is complex thing. But many men I know think the way I described.

oblio• 11 years ago

What do they think about the men they killed? Especially Stalin.

mercurial7• 11 years ago

He is in good company. There is not much communism left in China, but Mao is still embalmed in his mausoleum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_of_Mao_Zedong

vixen99• 11 years ago

Not much communism? Seems to me that the media plus almost every bank plus every square inch of land being entirely state-owned is quite a lot.

maaarghk• 11 years ago

Similarly Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) is in a mausoleum, modelled after Lenin's infact. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh#Death

ivan_gammel• 11 years ago

Look at it from another perspective: it is a tourist attraction, that may bring some money to Moscow, just like mummies in the British museum.

Legacy of communism can and must be commercialized in all possible ways: Soviet Union produced amazing quantity of artifacts, cultural objects and scientific data that is possibly yet to be rediscovered and re-thought, just like the ideas used by PreVu mentioned in the article.

AndrewKemendo• 11 years ago

I wonder what their endgame is here. Seems like Sisyphus has met his match.

rurounijones• 11 years ago

I wonder what their endgame is here

MechaLenin.

Hey, it worked for Nixon and they only had his head in a jar, not the whole body.

lotsofmangos4• 11 years ago

No need to worry, if that happens we will just reactivate Jeremy Bentham.

joshrotenberg• 11 years ago

I think they're hoping he'll just wake up and walk away eventually.

stephancoral• 11 years ago

Simpsons did it. https://vimeo.com/87962641

danans• 11 years ago

If they could get him just fit enough to ride a horse shirtless, he could run against Putin ;)

mojoe• 11 years ago

In case you were as curious as I was to see a picture of Lenin's body: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01809/Vlad_18094...

anigbrowl2• 11 years ago

I've seen it in person. Rather than being ghoulish, it's thought-provoking - it's odd to see an actual historical figure in the flesh, if not the spirit.

classicsnoot3• 11 years ago

complete non sequitur but in the same vein (boosh) if you are into weird body stuff check out this guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hunter_%28surgeon%29

lotsofmangos4• 11 years ago

He reportedly wanted a private funeral and to be buried next to his mother.

I do wonder how they keep him from spinning.

Jolijn• 11 years ago

It seems like a bit of a Ship of Theseus. Even at this point I wonder how much of what you see of his face can be said to be 'original'. But still people visit, as if Lenin is still there.

ArekDymalski2• 11 years ago

I wouldn't be surprised if nothing you can see on the exhibit is "original". First, they clearly admit in the article that they focus "on preserving the body's physical form—its look, shape, weight, color, limb flexibility and suppleness—but not necessarily its original biological matter. After 145 years, it's quite possible that everything was substituted. Second, Russia has a long tradition of creating a PR-pumped image of healthy, almost immortal leaders. That could be a natural part of such cult practices.

nkuttler• 11 years ago

Lenin died 1924, he was born 145 years ago.

tonymon• 11 years ago

Second, Russia has a long tradition of creating a PR-pumped image of healthy, almost immortal leaders.

Well, North Korea probably yes. But I haven't noticed such tradition in Russia.

restalis2• 11 years ago

People still go there to visit because it still is as much Lenin you can get!

Eye_of_Mordor• 11 years ago

Lenin is basically a love doll.

"Now, I am become love doll, the destroyer of men's opression" - Vladimir Lenin, 2015

upstandingdude• 11 years ago

Wow theres a german article on a swiss site called "20 minutes" that is a complete rip of this article, it came out yesterday and is even titled the same. Unbelievably bold plagiarism.

Lenin's Body Improves with Age

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