The story of any family is a rather complicated and often confusing affair. The British believe that each family has a cabinet with a skeleton, which is carefully hidden from prying eyes. What to say about famous personalities and their loved ones. Information about their genealogy and the details of life undergoes changes every time when the next historical era is replaced by a new one. The Ulyanov family is an excellent example of such metamorphoses.
Maternal ancestors of Vladimir Ulyanov-Lenin
In Soviet times, the famous specialist in the biography of the Ulyanovs was Marietta Shaginyan. Her books were required to be read in schools and universities. Before the release of the work, the works underwent severe censorship and mandatory edits. As a result, some facts about the ancestors of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin were hidden or corrected. In the novel âThe Family of Ulyanovs,â Marietta Sergeevna mentioned that in her motherhood, Vl. Lenin bore the name Blank. But nothing was mentioned about the nationality of her parents.
In 1965, the St. Petersburg historian Mikhail Stein, while working on the biography of Alexander Dmitrievich Blanc, a famous physician, discovered interesting documents. The archives of the Medical and Surgical Academy indicated that the brothers Blank, Alexander Dmitrievich and Dmitry Dmitrievich, were admitted to the above educational institution in 1820. In their case, it is mentioned that they were baptized in the metropolitan cathedral and took Russian names instead of the Jewish ones - Abel and Israel, respectively. Mikhail Stein claims that the baptism was initiated by their father, Moisha Itskovich, and Senator Dmitry Osipovich Baranov, whose brothers took their patronymic when changing religion. This was done for the future of children. The change of religion allowed the brothers to get a good education and secure the future.
Akim Harutyunov in âLeninâs Dossier Without Retouchingâ expresses the opinion that Alexander and Dmitry converted to Christianity by their decision because of serious friction with his father, who was an unpleasant person. For the same reason, they took the patronymic of state adviser Baranov. And after the baptism, the brothers generally stopped communicating with Moysha. According to Arutyunov, their father did not differ in morality and honesty.
Vladimir Ilyich's maternal grandfather
In 1824, Blanca graduated from the medical academy and became obstetric surgeon. Senior Alexander served as a doctor in Smolensk. In 1829, he married Anna Ivanovna Grossshopf, the daughter of a wealthy merchant with German and Swedish roots. Maria Alexandrovna, mother of Vl. Lenin, was the fifth of six children. Unfortunately, Anna died in 1838, and her childless sister, Catherine, took over the upbringing responsibilities. After 3 years, Alexander Dmitrievich married her. The family became complete again.
The form rose to the rank of state adviser. In 1847, he resigned, received a noble title and settled in his estate near Kazan. The title of a nobleman allowed him to acquire the village of Yansaly (Kokushkino) and five hundred hectares of land. Until his death in 1870, Alexander Dmitrievich lived with his wife in Kokushkino, near which he was buried.
German roots connect the Ulyanov family with fairly large dignitaries of Russia, Germany and Sweden.
Genealogy of paternal Lenin
Lenin's ancestors on the paternal side were immigrants from Asia. Great-grandfather - Kalmyk. Ilya Nikolaevich, father of Vladimir Ulyanov, mentioned this more than once. There were Chuvashs in his family. Most sources claim that Leninâs grandfather was serf. There are practically no documents on the genealogy of Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov, so the researchers build their assumptions, taking fragmentary information from various sources as the basis.
Parents of Vladimir Lenin
Lenin's father, Ilya Nikolaevich Ulyanov, was an outstanding person. He was born in Astrakhan into a poor and not-so-noble family. The father died early, so all the worries about the maintenance of the family took the elder brother. Thanks to him and his own talent, Ilya entered the local gymnasium as an exception. She graduated brilliantly with a silver medal and went to Kazan, where he became a student of the Physics and Mathematics Department of Kazan University.
Five years later, Ilya Nikolayevich graduated from high school, became a candidate of mathematical sciences and received the post of teacher of mathematics and physics at the Noble Institute in Penza. There he met his future wife, twenty-eight-year-old Maria Blank. She became an ideal wife for Ilya Nikolaevich, because she shared his views on what the family should be and the relationships in it.
Ilya Nikolaevich was a supporter of democratic pedagogy. At the university, he got acquainted with the works of Ushinsky, Pestalozzi, Kamensky and was guided by their principles in his work. For which he was awarded and awarded more than once. Relations in the Ulyanov family were also built on the ideas of humanism and freedom.
Ulyanov family: children
After the wedding in 1863, the Ulyanovs moved to Nizhny Novgorod. There, Ilya Nikolayevich was waiting for the post of teacher of mathematics and physics in the male gymnasium.
Until recently, no one doubted how many children were in the Ulyanov family. In 1864, their first child was born - Anna. After 2 years, in 1866, Alexander was born.
After another 2 years, a second daughter was born, who was named Olga. But she lived only a year. According to the testimony of L.I. Veretennikova, a cousin of Vladimir Lenin, the Ulyanovs family very hard survived this tragic event. Just at that time, significant changes took place in the professional activity of Ilya Nikolaevich.
In 1869, the Institute of Inspectors of Public Schools was created. Ulyanov, as a wonderful teacher, was one of the first to be offered the position of provincial inspector. He accepted the offer, and the whole Ulyanov family went to Simbirsk - to the place of the new service of Ilya Nikolaevich.
In 1870, the second son was born - Ulyanov Vladimir Ilyich. The family settled down in a new place. Ilya Nikolaevich mastered with a new post. Concern and trouble were enough for everyone. And a year and a half later, the Ulyanovs family was replenished with a daughter, who was named Olga. In 1873 another son was born - Nikolai. The birth was difficult, the boy lived only a few days, and Maria Alexandrovna was on the verge of death. But after a while she got better. In 1874 the son Dmitry was born, and in 1878 the youngest daughter Maria.
Family photo
Thus, Maria Alexandrovna gave birth to eight children. Not all of them survived, which, unfortunately, was at that time a phenomenon rather familiar than exceptional.
Six children and parents are captured in a famous photo of the Ulyanov family (1879). It refers to the Simbirsk period. The one-year-old Maria sits in the arms of her mother, Maria Alexandrovna. Olga is on the left side of the mother, and Alexander is on the right. The eldest daughter, Anna, is behind her father. Before her sits Vladimir. In the middle is the youngest son Dmitry. For Vladimir Ulyanov, this year was significant, because he became a gymnasium student. More responsibility, more independence. It is interesting to note that the children in the family were friends in pairs. The older ones are Anna and Alexander, the middle ones are Olga and Vladimir, the younger ones are Dmitry and Maria. Although later these couples broke up due to life circumstances.
"Twin brother" Vladimir Ilyich
In the 2000s, the online issue again raised the question of how many children were actually in the Ulyanov family. In 2005-2006, an artist from Bashkiria Rinat Voligamsi posted on his website a series of photographs that depict the "complete" Ulyanovs family: Sergei, Vladimirâs "twin brother", is sitting at the feet of Maria Alexandrovna.
The images are made so high quality that it is very difficult to suspect a parody of officialdom in these creations. The artist admits that the "twin brother" of Vladimir Ulyanov is his, author, creative fantasy. In this way, he explained to himself and others how Lenin managed to develop such an ebullient, turbulent revolutionary activity, as he managed to be in different places almost simultaneously. "Photos" instantly scattered across the Internet, and new "theories" appeared about what kind of skeleton the Ulyanov-Lenin family was hiding in their closet.
Ulyanov family: biography in a new way
In the 90s of the 20th century, several high-profile ârevelationsâ appeared in the print press. The Ulyanov family was too ideal. The biography of each family member has undergone a very critical review. And as a result, in 1993, in the book âKremlin Wivesâ, L. Vasilieva raised the question of the morality of Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova. Referring to Inessa Armand, a close friend of Lenin, the author suggests that the real father of Alexander Ulyanov was the failed regicide Dmitry Karakozov. Subsequently, Alexander found out about this and, deciding to avenge his "father", he became a terrorist, made an attempt on the life of the king, for which he was executed in 1887.
Later, in the late 90s, another, more senior candidate for paternity of the eldest son Ulyanov appeared. This time it was about the emperor Alexander himself. It was said that Sasha Ulyanov became a terrorist in order to take revenge on his real father for the shame of his mother.
But, referring to existing documents and checking the birth dates of children, we have to admit that both versions are not viable.
The Ulyanov-Lenin family seems to be an interesting topic for study not only by historians, but also by teachers and psychologists. The ideas of Ushinsky, tested and honed by the personal experience of Ilya Nikolayevich, became for him the fundamental principles of education for students, teachers and their own children. Each of them has become a whole person.
Alexander Ilyich Ulyanov
If you look closely at the photographs of the Ulyanov family, Alexanderâs seriousness and concentration are striking. It was he who indicated the direction of the movement of thoughts to the future leader of the world proletariat. And his execution became a catalyst and helped Vladimir to finally determine the system of views on society.
Anna Ilyinichna Ulyanova
Anna, the oldest of the children, became the "chronicler" of the family. Her pen belonged to the memories of her younger brother, who created the ârightâ image of the leader for readers around the world, along with the works of M. Shaginyan and V. Bonch-Bruevich. But at the same time, in the recordings, which were not widely used, Anna Ilyinichna called Vladimir the most ânoisy and loudâ. She noted his special self-confidence and intolerance of objections. It is possible that these character traits were manifested and strengthened thanks to parents, who often praised the middle son for his intelligence and ingenuity. This completely fit into the framework of that system of education in the spirit of humanism, which the Ulyanov family adhered to.
Children grew up in an atmosphere of respect and love. Honesty, free-thinking and the ability to defend one's point of view were encouraged in every way. Therefore, it is not surprising that all brothers and sisters became idealistic revolutionaries and maintained close relations with each other until the end of their lives. Anna Ilyinichna became one of the founders of the Iskra newspaper. And after the revolution, she fulfilled her dream of teaching children and devoted all her future life to public education.
Olga Ilyinichna Ulyanova
It seems that the name Olga was fatal for the Ulyanovs. Both daughters named by this name passed away early. One died in infancy, and the other lived only 19 years and did not leave a bright trace in the history.
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov-Lenin
The middle son of Ilya Nikolaevich and Maria Alexandrovna was Vladimir Ulyanov. The family at the time of his birth survived the death of little Olga. Therefore, the mother was very worried about the health of the middle son. According to Anna Ilyinichna, there was a time when she was very worried about Volodya's mental state due to the frequent bouts of rage that had happened to him before the age of 3. She said that either a genius or a fool would grow out of him. But then the anxieties of the parents subsided, because the restless and noisy child showed signs of an exceptional mind.
Amazed, like all family members, by the execution of his elder brother, Vladimir firmly decided to continue his work, but "in a different way." And in the end he became the head of a new state, which was to preach the principles of equality and justice. The family of Vladimir Ulyanov-Lenin always supported him. Brother and sisters became associates and assistants.
Dmitry Ilyich Ulyanov
The whole family of Ulyanov Vladimir Ilyich (Lenin) was somehow connected with the revolutionary movement. The younger brother Dmitry was also an underground worker, and after the revolution he took the post of People's Commissar of Health in Crimea, as he managed to graduate from the university and get a doctorâs diploma. Then he moved to Moscow and until the end of his life worked in the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR.
A photo of the Ulyanov-Lenin family captured people who radically changed the life of an entire country due to their determination and cohesion. But every act has a positive and negative side. The question is which of these people agree to accept as payment for their deeds.