The Women in Lenin’s Life
the devoted & still unsung women who supported vladimir lenin before & during his rise to power
“The women in Lenin’s life were ruthlessly exploited by him. His wife Nadezhda Krupskaya, his mother Maria, mother-in-law Elizaveta, his sisters Anna and Mariya and his sometime lover Inessa Armand were all worn ragged in the cause of his own political ends.”
The Women in Lenin’s Life
What did reveal itself during my research was the extent to which, with horrifying predictability Lenin fell out with almost all of his male colleagues, and how it was always Nadya – the one, rock-solid constant in his life – who picked up the pieces and kept him going through repeated bouts of physical and mental collapse. And not just Nadya: it soon became clear that it was precisely the women in Lenin’s life – his mother, Mariya, and his sisters Anna and Mariya, who sent food parcels, money and books from Russia – who also offered essential moral and practical support.
Nadya’s mother, Elizaveta, trailed round Europe with her daughter and son in law. She uncomplainingly shared their cramped accommodation and the privations of their frequently impoverished lives, helping out as clerical back up, cook and bottle washer, and constantly berating them both for their self-neglect.