Vladimir Il'ich Lenin

Born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in Simbirsk in 1870, Lenin became one of the most influential and controversial political figures of modern history. He trained in law, turned to revolutionary politics at a young age, and spent years in activism, exile, and political organizing before emerging as the leading figure of the Bolshevik movement.

In 1917, he returned to Russia during the upheaval of revolution and helped lead the Bolsheviks to power in the October Revolution. He then headed the new Soviet government, guiding it through civil war and the early construction of the Soviet state while developing ideas that became known as Leninism.

Lenin died in 1924 at Gorki, near Moscow, but his legacy only grew after his death. Admired by supporters as the architect of a new political order and condemned by critics as the founder of an authoritarian system, he remains one of the most debated figures in world history.