Vladimir Ulyanov was born on April 22, 1870 in Simbirsk. True, fate decreed that the pseudonym Lenin, who is well known not only in Russia and other states of the former USSR, but also in the most distant countries of the world, became much better known for his real name.
Until 1917, the leader of the world proletariat, V. I. Ulyanov, like other professional revolutionaries, had to live in the strictest secrecy. It was impossible for him to sign his articles and other works with his own name. Therefore, V. I. Ulyanov had to use pseudonyms, party nicknames.
The real name of the leader of the proletariat is Vladimir Ulyanov, but in world history he remained Lenin. They asked about the origin of the pseudonym during the life of Vladimir Ilyich, but there were no comments on this matter.
Obviously, the reasons that made a person choose this particular surname must necessarily be. The researchers note the existence of several versions, each of which is worthy of consideration.
Vladimir Ulyanov had more than 150 pseudonyms, but he became known precisely as Lenin, because party documents were signed by the name of V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin). In honor of the Lena River, there are several versions associated with the name of the Siberian Lena River.
The niece of the leader Olga Ulyanova devoted a lot of time to studying her family, she is convinced that the pseudonym comes precisely from the name of the great river. The pseudonym Volgin was already taken, it was used by Plekhanov, Glinka, and other personalities. But the name of Lena has not yet been exploited.
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An interesting fact: there is a version that Vladimir Ilyich took the pseudonym in spite of Plekhanov, in some way parodying him, "Volgina". As for family legends, it is indicated here that the revolutionary's grandfather became the first Ulyanov in the family. But the surname was not attached to him immediately, for a long time he was called "Ulyanin". The distorted form could turn into "Lenin".
In addition, the name in honor of the river may have come from historical events of that time. In 1912, the strike of the workers of the Lenin gold-mining partnership was brutally suppressed, where the workers suffered from terrible working conditions, scanty wages. The strike was brutally suppressed by the troops.
The information was widely disseminated, in itself "Lensky Shooting" became one of the blatant symbols of the tsarist power, violence against the people. Ulyanov could well take advantage of this event, its name, to choose a pseudonym that attracts attention.
However, it is difficult to confirm this version, and critics completely refute it, emphasizing that the pseudonym Lenin appeared much earlier. In fact, Ulyanov began using the pseudonym Lenin already in 1901, when he was preparing materials for the Zarya magazine, as well as in correspondence with Plekhanov.
There is another, less romantic version of why Ulyanov got this pseudonym. The need to change names, use fake documents - these are the realities of the life of a revolutionary. Ulyanov constantly had to hide. In 1900, the future leader had to go abroad - he had just returned from exile.
However, the possibility of obtaining a passport in one's own surname and leaving with it was highly doubtful. Nadezhda Krupskaya found a person sympathetic to the revolutionaries named Sergei Nikolaevich Lenin, who was able to provide the passport of his father, who lived in the Yaroslavl province, a retired state councilor.
All the necessary information was corrected in the passport, Ulyanov received the desired document. He became an excellent cover, especially since the father of the revolutionary himself was a state councilor, which would allow Vladimir Ilyich to impersonate a person from this cohort, because all the features of the life and everyday life of officials were clear to him.
In support of this fact, it is worth noting that in 1901, the signature of Vladimir Ilyich in the Zarya magazine under his materials looked exactly like N. Lenin. The letter N was not deciphered by him in the future. But she could well point to the name Nikolai.
The Lenin family really existed, it came from the 17th century from the Cossack Posnik, who was awarded the nobility and lands for merits in the conquest of Siberia. At the time when the passport was in the hands of Vladimir Ilyich, its original owner was seriously ill, and then, soon after, died.
Exotic versions
If you read the word Lenin the other way around, you get Ninel. Ninel is a woman's name, and it is hidden, since the leader of the world proletariat hid his homosexual relations with Zinoviev and Trotsky. Absolutely incredible, of course, but no more incredible than deriving the party name Lenin from the name of the Lenin monastery (Kloster Lehnin) in Germany, not far from Potsdam. The monastery is known, among other things, for the famous "Lenin's prophecy", set forth in a document of the 17th century, allegedly dating back to the manuscript of the 12th century. The prophecy says that someday Central and Eastern Europe will unite into a single state from the Rhine to the Volga. Seems strange? Nevertheless, such versions also take place.
Love story
There is also a hypothesis that a love story led to the appearance of such a pseudonym. However, it is still not known in honor of which woman Ulyanov could have come up with a surname - someone brings Elena Zaritskaya, Elena Lenina, and other ladies. But the version is unproven.
Other pseudonyms of Lenin
He also had the party nickname Old Man. He had many pseudonyms for printing. Some of the articles and brochures published abroad, he signed simply - N. In other cases, he signed S. Tulin, V. Ilyin, V. I-in. Sometimes Ilyich used foreign surnames as a pseudonym - Frey, Richter, Meyer. The pseudonym Lenin, or rather N. Lenin, appeared with the leader in 1901. With this pseudonym, he began to sign his published works. And it was under this name that he went down in history. This name became so widely known that after the 1917 revolution, he began to sign “V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin).
Thus, the origin of the pseudonym Lenin is not exactly known. There are versions connecting its appearance with the Lena River and the events taking place on it. The most likely version is with a fake passport. And someone even points to a love story.