Vladimir Lenin
In this last photo, Vladimir Lenin is seen in a wheelchair. He suffered from three strokes in the two years prior. The stress of leading a revolution and fighting in a civil war had worsened his physical health. Lenin’s health deteriorated in March 1922. He suffered his first stroke in May of that year, leaving him unable to speak for weeks and partially paralyzed on his right side. Lenin subsequently suffered two more strokes.
The third one left him unable to speak and officially ending his political work. Lenin died on January 21, 1924, at the age of 53, at his estate at Gorki Leninskiye. Over 900,000 mourners viewed his body in the Hall of Columns during the four days that he lay in state. Although the official cause of death was consequences of the strokes, there are persistent stories that he died of syphilis.
