Figure 1.--Here we see Lenin and Petrova with two children. The phograph was taken in Gorki (where he liked to relax) in 1922. Here he appears with his wife Nadezkaya Krupskaya and two of their children. The children are not his, but rather his nephew Viktor and Vera, the daughter of a worker. Both children wear sweaters and long black stockings. Notice the cropped hair cuts. Even Vera's hair is cropped. |
It was in Shushenskoye that Lenin met his wife, Petrova. She was a peasant woman. Her actual name was Nadezhda K. Krupskaya. She came to Shushenskoye in May 1898. The two remained together until Lenin's death. The was both a soul mate and revolutionary supporter.
Lenin and Petrova appear to have had four children. There were two boys and a two girls. We know nothing at this time about Lenin as a father or what became of the children. Hopefully our Russian readers can provide more information about the family. Bolshevik leaders became very secretive about even family affairs. I do not know if this began with Lenin. Petrova was active in Revolutionary activities. This does not seem to have been the case for other Bolshevik leaders.
The photograph here suggests that Lenin was close to his nephew Viktor. We have no information about the boy at this time.
We note a painting by V. Snopov of the Lenin and Petroka with four children. We are not sure just who the children are, The painting is remaravly similar to the photograph here so presumably represents a scene in Gorky, only the children are different. One boy wears a Red Army cap. We know nothing about the artist at this time. It seems arather cartoonish work, but the subject is interesting.
