Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) was a Russian revolutionary, political theorist, and the founding leader of the Soviet Union. As head of the Bolshevik Party, he orchestrated the October Revolution of 1917, overthrowing the Provisional Government and establishing a Marxist-Leninist state. Lenin’s writings and leadership reshaped socialist theory, emphasizing a vanguard party and centralized power to achieve proletarian rule. He served as the first head of government of Soviet Russia and later the USSR, implementing radical reforms including land redistribution and nationalization of industry. Despite his declining health and early death, Lenin’s legacy profoundly influenced 20th-century global politics, and his embalmed body remains on display in Moscow’s Red Square.
