— Ch. 1 · The Boy From Simbirsk —
Vladimir Lenin.
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was born on the 22nd of April 1870 in Streletskaya Ulitsa, a street in the city of Simbirsk. He grew up as the third child among eight siblings, with two older brothers and sisters named Anna and Alexander. His father, Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov, rose from a family of former serfs to become Director of Public Schools for the province. The elder Ulyanov oversaw the foundation of over 450 schools during his tenure. Lenin's mother, Maria Alexandrovna Blank, came from a wealthy Swedish Lutheran background but remained largely indifferent to Christianity. She influenced her children to adopt similar views despite their Orthodox baptism. The family spent summers at a rural manor called Kokushkino. Young Vladimir excelled at school and played chess frequently. He was known by the nickname Volodya within his family circle.
Brotherhood And Betrayal
In January 1886, Lenin lost his father to a brain haemorrhage while he was fifteen years old. This tragedy changed his behavior significantly. He became erratic and confrontational toward authority figures. His elder brother Alexander, whom he called Sasha, had been studying law at Saint Petersburg University. Alexander joined a revolutionary cell planning to assassinate Tsar Alexander III. The conspirators were arrested before they could launch their attack. Alexander was executed in May 1887. Despite this trauma, Lenin graduated from high school with a gold medal for exceptional performance. He decided to study law at Kazan University instead of pursuing other paths. Upon entering university in August 1887, he moved into a nearby flat. He joined a revolutionary cell run by Lazar Bogoraz that sought to revive the People's Will movement. Police arrested him during a December demonstration against government restrictions on student societies. The Ministry of Internal Affairs exiled him to his family estate at Kokushkino. He read voraciously during exile and became enamoured with Nikolay Chernyshevsky's pro-revolutionary novel What Is to Be Done?.