Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna. Every person knows this name. But the majority only remembers the fact that she was the wife of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Yes this is true. But Krupskaya herself was an outstanding political figure and teacher of her time.
Childhood
Her date of birth is February 14, 1869. The family of Nadezhda Konstantinovna belonged to the category of impoverished nobles. Father, Konstantin Ignatievich, a former officer (lieutenant), was a supporter of revolutionary democratic concepts, shared the ideas of the organizers of the Polish uprising. But he didn’t particularly care about the well-being of the family, so Krupsky lived simply, without excesses. My father died in 1883, when Nadezhda was in her teens. Konstantin Ignatievich did not leave a fortune after himself to his wife and daughter, but despite the lack of funds, her mother, Elizaveta Vasilievna, always surrounded her daughter with love, tenderness and care.
Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna studied at the gymnasium named after A. Obolenskaya, where she received a prestigious education at that time. Mother especially did not limit her freedom, believing that each person should choose his own path in life. Elizaveta Vasilyevna herself was very pious, but, seeing that her daughter did not gravitate to religion, she did not persuade her and force her to believe. Mother believed that the only guarantee of happiness can be a husband who loves and will take care of her daughter.
Youth
Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna in her youth, after graduating from high school, often thought about the injustice that reigned around. She was indignant at the arbitrariness of the tsarist regime, oppressing ordinary people, bringing them poverty, pain and suffering.
She found associates in the Marxist circle. There, having studied the teachings of Marx, she realized that there was only one way to solve all the problems of the state - revolution and communism.
The biography of Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna, like her whole life, is now inextricably linked with the ideas of Marxism. It was they who determined her future life path.
She trained the proletariat for free at Sunday evening school, where workers came to get at least some knowledge. The school was far enough behind the Neva outpost, but this did not frighten the desperate and bold Hope. There, she not only taught the workers writing and counting, but also propagandized Marxism, actively participating in the unification of small circles into a single organization. V.I. Lenin, who arrived in St. Petersburg, completed this process. Thus formed the "Union of the struggle for the liberation of the working class", where Krupskaya occupied one of the central places.
Acquaintance with V. I. Lenin
They met at the beginning of 1896 (February). But at first, Vladimir Ilyich did not show interest in Nadezhda. On the contrary, he became close to another activist, Apollinaria Yakubova. After talking with her for a while, he even decided to make an offer to Apollinaria, but was refused. Lenin did not have such a passion for women as for the ideas of the revolution. Therefore, because of the refusal, he was not at all upset. And Hope, meanwhile, more and more admired his loyalty to revolutionary ideas, his dedication and leadership qualities. They began to communicate more often. The subject of their discussions was Marxist ideas, dreams of revolution and communism. But they also sometimes spoke of personal and secret. So, for example, only Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna knew the nationality of the mother of Vladimir Ilyich. From the majority of those around him, Lenin hid the Swedish-German and Jewish roots of his mother.
Arrest and exile
Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna was arrested in 1897 along with several other members of the union. She was sent from St. Petersburg for three years. Initially, she was exiled to the village of Shushenskoye, located in Siberia. There, at that time, V.I. Lenin was also in exile.
They got married in July 1898. The wedding ceremony was more than modest. The newlyweds exchanged wedding rings made of copper nickel. The groom's family was against this marriage. Relatives of Vladimir Ilyich immediately disliked his chosen one, believing that she was dry, ugly and unemotional. The situation was aggravated by the fact that Krupskaya and Lenin could not have children. But Nadezhda Konstantinovna put her whole soul into her love for her husband, becoming his comrade, ally and faithful friend. She, along with Vladimir Ilyich, stood at the origins of communism and took an active part in organizing party affairs, paving the way for revolution.
Being in exile, Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna (photos in her youth, see below) writes her first book. It was called "Woman Worker." This work, permeated with the ideas of Marxism, tells of a working woman, how hard she is living now, and how she would have lived if she had managed to overthrow the autocracy. In case of victory of the proletariat, a woman was expected to be liberated from oppression. The author chose the nickname Sablin. The book was illegally published abroad.
Emigration
The link ended in the spring of 1901. Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna spent her last year in Ufa, from where she left for her husband. V.I. Lenin at that time was abroad. The wife followed him. Even abroad, party work did not stop. Krupskaya is actively campaigning, working as a secretary in the editorial offices of well-known Bolshevik publications (Forward, Proletarian)
When the revolution of 1905-1907 began, the couple returned to St. Petersburg, where Nadezhda Konstantinovna became secretary of the Central Committee of the party.
Since 1901, Vladimir Ilyich began to sign his printed works with the pseudonym Lenin. Even in the history of his pseudonym, as in his entire life, an important role was played by his wife - Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna. The real name of the "leader" - Ulyanov - at that time was already known in government circles. And when he needed to go abroad, then, in view of his political position, there were justified fears about issuing a foreign passport and leaving the country. The way out was unexpected. Longtime friend Krupskaya Olga Nikolaevna Lenina responded to a request for help. She, driven by socio-democratic ideas, secretly took a passport from her father Nikolai Yegorovich Lenin, helped fake some data (date of birth). It was with this name that Lenin went abroad. After this incident, the pseudonym was fixed to him for life.
Life in Paris
In 1909, the couple decided to move to Paris. There was a meeting with Inessa Armand. Nadezhda and Inessa were a bit similar in character, both confidently followed the communist canons. But, unlike Krupskaya, Armand was also a bright personality, a mother of many children, a wonderful hostess, the soul of the company and a dazzling beauty.
Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna - a revolutionary to the core. But she was also a wise and sensitive woman. And she realized that her husband’s interest in Inessa went far beyond party activities. Tormented, she found the strength in herself to accept this fact. In 1911, having shown maximum female wisdom, she herself proposed to Vladimir Ilyich to divorce. But Lenin, on the contrary, unexpectedly ceased relations with Armand.
Nadezhda Konstantinovna had so many party affairs that there was no time to worry. She went headlong to work. Her responsibilities included exchanging data with underground party members in Russia. She secretly sent books to them, helped organize revolutionary activities, pulled comrades out of trouble, and organized shoots. But at the same time, she devoted much time to the study of pedagogy. She was interested in the ideas of Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels in the field of education. She studied the organization of school affairs in such European countries as France and Switzerland, got acquainted with the works of great teachers of the past.
In 1915, Nadezhda Konstantinovna finished work on the book "Public Education and Democracy." For her, she received high marks from her husband. This first Marxist work, which came from the pen of Krupskaya, spoke about the need to create educational institutions where ordinary workers could receive a polytechnic education. For this book Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna (her photos are presented in the article) received the title of Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences.
Return to Russia
Return to Russia occurred in April 1917. There, in Petrograd, mass propaganda work occupied all its time. Speeches at enterprises to the proletariat, participation in rallies with soldiers, organization of meetings of female soldiers are the main activities of Nadezhda Konstantinovna. She propagandized Leninist slogans about the transfer of all power to the Soviets, talked about the desire of the Bolshevik Party to the socialist revolution.
At that difficult time, when Vladimir Ilyich was forced to hide in Helsingorfs (Finland) from the persecution of the Provisional Government, Nadezhda Konstantinovna, posing as a housekeeper, came to visit him. Through it, the Central Committee of the party received instructions from its leader, and Lenin learned about the state of affairs in the homeland.
Krupskaya was one of the organizers and participants of the Great October Socialist Revolution, engaged in its direct preparation in the Vyborg district and Smolny.
The death of V.I. Lenin
Despite the fact that relations with Inessa, Armand Lenin broke off several years ago, his feelings for her did not cool down. But work for him has always been the most important priority in life, and relations with Armand dragged on and distracted from party activities, so he did not regret his decision.
When Inessa died of suddenly discovered tuberculosis, Vladimir Ilyich was struck by this. For him, this was a real blow. His contemporaries claim that a mental wound greatly aggravated his health and brought closer the hour of death. Vladimir Ilyich loved this woman and could not reconcile with her departure. The children of Armand remained in France, and Lenin asked his wife to bring them to Russia. Of course, she could not refuse a dying husband. He died in 1924. And after his death, Nadezhda Konstantinovna was no longer the same. Her "god" was no longer there, and life without him turned into existence. Nevertheless, she found the strength to carry out further work to promote public education.
People's Commissar of Education
Nadezhda Konstantinovna worked in the People’s Education Committee immediately after the revolution. She continued the struggle to create a labor polytechnic school. The upbringing of children in the spirit of communism has become the central link of her whole life.
Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna, whose photo surrounded by pioneers is located below, did not look for souls in children. She sincerely tried to make their life happier.
Krupskaya also made a great contribution to the education of the female half of the population. Actively attracted women to participate in socialist construction.
Pioneer
Nadezhda Konstantinovna stood at the origins of the creation of a pioneer organization, made a great contribution to its development. But at the same time, she not only coordinated the activities of the organization, but also participated in direct work with children. It was the pioneers who asked her to write an autobiography. Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna, a brief biography of which was set forth by herself in the work “My Life”, was engaged in writing it with great excitement. She dedicated this work to all the pioneers of the country.
last years of life
The books of Nadezhda Konstantinovna on pedagogy today have historical value only for those few researchers who are interested in the views of the Bolsheviks on questions of raising children. But Krupskaya’s true contribution to the history of our country is the support and assistance that she provided throughout her life to her husband Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. He was her idol and ally. He was her "god." After his death, Stalin, who came to power, tried with all his might to remove it from the political scene. The widow of Lenin was an eyesore for him , from which he tried by all means to get rid of. Enormous psychological pressure was exerted on her. In a touching biography, made by order of Stalin, many facts of her life, both political and personal, were distorted. But she herself could not make a difference. Nadezhda Konstantinovna prayed for everyone she could to bury her husband. But no one heard her. The realization that the body of a loved one will never find rest, and that she herself will never rest next to him, broke her completely.
Her departure from life was strange and sudden. She announced her decision to speak at the XVIII Party Congress. No one knew exactly what she wanted to talk about in her speech. Perhaps in her speech she could offend Stalin's interests. But be that as it may, on February 27, 1939 she was gone. Three days before that, everything was in order. She received guests on February 24th. The closest friends came together. We sat at a modest table. And in the evening of that day, she suddenly felt ill. The doctor, who arrived three and a half hours later, immediately diagnosed with acute appendicitis, peritonitis, thrombosis. It was urgent to operate, but for reasons not clear to this day, the operation was not done.