Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known by his alias Lenin, is widely viewed as one of the most influential figures in 20th century history and the father of the Soviet Union. Lenin was born on April 10, 1870, in Simbirsk, Russia, as the third of six children born to Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov and Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova. His mother was a teacher, and his father served in the education ministry, which at the time was a sub-branch of the Interior Ministry of the Russian Empire.

During his early years, Lenin attended a gymnasium in Kazan, where he was exposed to radical political thinking through some of his teachers. At the age of 16, he read the works of German philosopher Karl Marx and wrote a dissertation on the subject of “The Development of Capitalism in Russia.” After graduating from the gymnasium, Lenin studied law at the University of Kazan and moved to St. Petersburg the following year, where he joined the revolutionary circle of Nikolay Chaikovsky. In 1895, he married Krupskaya and became a leader of the Marxist party.

In 1901, Lenin wrote his most famous work, “What is to be Done?”, in which he called for a revolutionary overthrow of the Tsar and the establishment of a strong, centralized government. He also argued that a powerful, centralized government would be the best way to bring about economic, social and political change in Russia. After the failed Russian Revolution of 1905, Lenin fled to Switzerland. He returned to Russia in 1917 and took control of Petrograd and Moscow. Shortly thereafter, he formed the Soviet Union, an authoritarian socialist state, and adopted the name of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

Throughout the Soviet Union’s existence, Lenin’s leadership was characterized by iron-fisted control, with his reign ultimately resulting in the death of 8 million citizens as a result of famines, civil wars and brutal suppression of dissent. Though many of his methods were controversial, he is credited with modernizing the country’s infrastructure and with transforming its economy into one of the world’s largest. In 1924, Lenin died at the age of 53, leaving behind a legacy of historical importance.