It's about the leader of the world proletariat, Vladimir Lenin. He promised to give the land to the peasants, the factories to the workers, and the power to the peoples, however, some bourgeois habits were not alien to him either. He lived first in a spacious Kremlin apartment, then in the luxurious Gorki mansion, which in the 1910s belonged to the widow of Savva Morozov. The greatest passion of the politician was luxury and unique cars from the garage of Emperor Nicholas II.
On this chilly January day in 1919, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin left the house and as usual got into a beautiful executive car Renault 40 CV, which at that time every aristocrat dreamed of. The car, equipped with a six-cylinder engine, for the first time in the history of the automotive industry could boast of brake boosters. Stepan Gil, one of the former drivers of the family of Nicholas II, who later became Lenin's personal driver, sat at the wheel of the fast Renault. They were heading towards Sokolniki Park when heavily armed people blocked their way.
“What are you doing? I'm Lenin! - Vladimir Ilyich reacted to the demand to get out of the car. However, the bandits did not pay attention to such a loud name. Leaving the passenger and the driver on the street, they rushed off in an unknown direction. Later it became known that on this car they committed a lot of crimes, including daring robberies and brutal murders.
Tsar machines
The first in Lenin's garage was the Turcat-Mery 165 FM limousine, released in 1908. Initially, it belonged to the eldest daughter of Nicholas II - Grand Duchess Tatiana. Then the minister-chairman of the Provisional Government, Alexander Kerensky, laid eyes on him, after which the car passed to the leader.
On the basis of the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost chassis, a unique car sled was built. Because of this, the speed decreased from 135 kilometers per hour to 60. Photo: Nikolay Akimov / Dmitry Sokolov / TASS
Vladimir Lenin and Nadezhda Krupskaya in the car. Red Square. May 1, 1919Photo: Lev Ivanov / RIA Novosti
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The weakness of the leader was expensive and unique cars Photo: Alexey Danichev / RIA Novosti
In Soviet times, badges even appeared on which a car and the inscription: "Lenin drove this car." However, she only served him for a couple of months. The car was stolen from the yard of the Smolny Palace. Enraged, Lenin threw the best detectives in search of the car, which by that time was already on the Finnish border.
While they were looking for Turcat-Mery, Lenin moved to a luxurious seven-seater Delaunay-Belleville 45 limousine produced in 1912 - one of several dozen cars of Emperor Nicholas II. The heavy car easily accelerated to 110 kilometers per hour. It was there that one of the attempts was made on Lenin's life. The driver sitting behind the wheel was able to escape from the scene of the attack, but the fired car had to be written off. The leader himself was not hurt.
One of the most famous attempts on the leader's life was committed on August 30, 1918 at the Michelson plant and is also associated with cars. After another rally, when the politician was already walking to his car (according to one version it was a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost), a woman known as Fanny Kaplan asked him a question. After that, three shots rang out. But the life of the leader was saved.
It was rumored that the first acquaintance with the Rolls-Royce car happened in Paris and was rather unfortunate. Thus, in 1909, the future leader of the revolution was watching the launch of an airplane when the Silver Ghost ran over him. The car received serious damage, but Lenin escaped with only bruises.
Subsequently, three prestigious Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost were registered in Lenin's garage. They were the ones who were most prepared for the broken Russian country roads - after the assassination attempt, Lenin gave up badly, he had to spend more time outdoors, visiting Gorki, Zavidovo and other picturesque places.
If the "Silver Ghost" could easily go around potholes, then the roads littered with snow were beyond even him. In 1921, workers from the Putilov plant came to the rescue, who built a unique car sled on the basis of the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost chassis. Because of this, the speed dropped from 135 kilometers per hour to 60, but Vladimir Ilyich was delighted.
Life of a real proletarian
Arriving in Moscow with his wife Nadezhda Krupskaya and sister Maria Ulyanova in 1917, Lenin first settled in the National Hotel. At this time, the Kremlin was actively preparing premises for them. Together with his family, Vladimir Ilyich moved into a spacious apartment a few months later. First of all, he asked to bring books there. By the way, by the end of his life, his personal library consisted of 10 thousand volumes.
Study in the Museum “Study and Apartment of V. I. Lenin in the Kremlin Photo: Sergei Pyatakov / RIA Novosti
The study and apartment of V. I. Lenin in the Kremlin. V. I.'s room Lenin and N. K. Krupskaya Photo: Boris Prikhodko / RIA Novosti
N. K. Krupskaya in the Kremlin in the museum “Study and apartment of V. I. Lenin in the Kremlin Photo: Sergei Pyatakov / RIA Novosti
The corridor connecting Lenin's apartment with an office in the Council of People's Commissars Photo: Boris Prikhodko / RIA Novosti
The meeting room of the Council of People's Commissars adjacent to the office Photo: Mikhail Kuleshov / RIA Novosti
A reception room, a meeting room of the Politburo, as well as the leader's office, next to which a switchboard and telephone operators were placed, were equipped next to the apartment. Ilyich's own bedroom was 18 square meters, his wife lived next door. The largest room - about 55 square meters - was intended for the living room. Nearby were the chambers of Lenin's younger sister, Maria.
In addition, the apartment had a kitchen, a maid's room and a bathroom combined with a toilet, where, in addition to the bath itself, there was a shower hose and a toilet bowl - a rarity at that time. This room was heated with ordinary stoves. For Lenin in 1918, for the first time in the Kremlin, they made an elevator. The apartment was located on the third floor, and after the assassination attempt by Fanny Kaplan, it was difficult for the leader to climb the stairs. There was a cozy gazebo on the roof of the building.
Modesty and nothing else
According to eyewitnesses, even by the standards of those years, the apartment was furnished rather modestly, wrote Lenin's biographer Alexander Klinge. As Academician Averbakh, who visited Lenin's apartment in the Kremlin, later said: “As soon as you open the door, you immediately feel that you are in the dwelling of an undemanding, but truly cultured person - everything is simple, clean, tidy, everything is in place, without shine, without chic, no luxury goods, no things of unknown purpose, but there is everything a working family needs, living exclusively with intellectual interests."
The leader of the world proletariat also ate simply. As the German communist Clara Zetkin, who visited him in 1920, recalled, the dinner they were served was that of "any average Soviet employee of the time": tea, black bread, butter, and cheese. A jar of jam awaited the guests as dessert.
His secretary, Lydia Fotieva, said that he rejected any comfort. So, in Lenin's office, his legs were constantly freezing, then he first got the felt, which he asked for, but then he managed to get a luxurious polar bear skin, which was spread under the desk and chair. Seeing this, the leader became furious, demanding that the new clothes be removed immediately, saying: "In our ruined, half-impoverished country, such a luxury is unacceptable."
Vladimir Lenin in Gorki, early September 1922 Photo: Maria Ulyanova / RIA Novosti
The leader and his sister Maria head to the Bolshoi Theater for a meeting of the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets Photo: RIA Novosti
Lenin in his office in Gorki, August-September 1922 Photo: RIA Novosti
In addition to the fact that the leader of the proletariat lived rather modestly, was ascetic in everyday life and unpretentious in food, he still did not make serious demands on clothing. Eyewitnesses say that he literally covered his shoes and business suits to holes. The only requirement for suits is brown and always with a vest.
He had decent clothes after the revolution; money was specially allocated from the budget for this. However, he wore it extremely rarely - only to meetings with representatives of foreign delegations.
From time to time Lenin visited the luxurious noble mansion "Gorki". Since the winter of 1921-22, he began to spend most of his time here. Since May 1923, Lenin settled there completely, and here he died. This residence was equipped with all the benefits of civilization: it had steam heating, running water and sewerage. However, even here he preferred a rather ascetic lifestyle.
Lenin died in January 1924. The coffin with his body was taken from Leninskiye Gorki to Moscow at the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, which he admired so much during his lifetime. By the way, the nobles passed the estates by inheritance, and after the death of Ilyich, the estate "Leninskie Gorki" went to his younger brother Dmitry Ulyanov, whose family occupied the estate until 1949, after which the mansion turned into a museum.
Konstantin Dvoretsky
