Gorki Leninskie

a settlement in Leninskii Raion, Moscow Oblast; it is located 35 km southeast of Moscow and 4 km from the Leninskii station of the Moscow Line, on the Pakhra River. Before the Great October Revolution of 1917 the Gorki estate, which had existed since the late 18th century, belonged to the Moscow city governor Reinbot. The house, which has preserved its original layout consisting of two central halls, is decorated with a six-column portico supporting a large pediment. In 1910 a winter garden and a large veranda were added to the house. Near the house there is a park with a pond.

An important period of V. I. Lenin’s life is bound up with Gorki. Lenin first came to Gorki at the end of September 1918 to recuperate after the assassination attempt on Aug. 30, 1918. Lenin spent his days off and vacations here, and from May 15, 1923, he lived here permanently. In Gorki, Lenin received his brothers-in-arms, workers’ and peasants’ delegations, and representatives of the international communist and workers’ movement. Here, Lenin wrote the major part of “The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky,” as well as “The Crisis of the Party,” “Once More About Trade Unions, the Current Situation and Trotsky’s and Bukharin’s Mistakes,” “Address to the Peasants of the Ukraine,” “Address to the International Proletariat,” “Letter to the German Communists,” “To Comrade Thomas Bell,” and “On the French Communist Party’s Theses Concerning the Agrarian Question.” Here Lenin made preparations for the Tenth Party Congress, for the Eighth and Ninth Congresses of the Soviets, and for the Third Congress of the Comintern.

Lenin and his family first lived in small rooms on the second floor of the northern wing. N. K. Krupskaia and M. I. Ul’ianova lived with Lenin in Gorki, and A. I. Ul’ianova-Elizarova and D. I. Ul’ianov were frequent visitors. In January 1921 the peasants of the village of Gorki invited V. I. Lenin to speak at a meeting, which was held on Jan. 9, 1921. Lenin gave a talk on the international and domestic situation. At the gathering, also attended by peasants of neighboring villages, there were about 300 persons. The residents of the village of Gorki asked Lenin to help them in installing electric lighting. In July 1921, Gorki was equipped for use of electric power.

Beginning in the summer of 1921, Lenin lived in the main house when he came to Gorki. On the first floor are a telephone room with an old instrument; a library with more than 3,000 books in Russian and foreign languages, newspapers, and magazines; and a winter garden, with a film projector in the center of the hall. M. I. Ul’ianova accompanied the film showings on the piano. A narrow stairway leads to the second floor. Upon Lenin’s request an additional inner railing was built, and by leaning on this railing Lenin could go up and down the stairs without disturbing the medical staff or his relatives. On the second floor are Lenin’s room, a dining room, Lenin’s office, and N. K. Krupskaia’s room. In the office, in front of a wide window overlooking the park, is a writing table. The table is covered with newspapers, books, and magazines that Lenin read, as well as envelopes, and forms bearing the stamp Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars. Beginning in the winter of 1921–22, Lenin was compelled to spend more and more time at Gorki for reasons of health. At 6:50 P.M. on Jan. 21, 1924, Lenin died at Gorki. In accordance with the decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the V. I. Lenin Memorial House Museum was opened here in January 1949. In 1958 the sculpture group Death of the Leader was unveiled in front of the house museum (granite, 1927–47; sculptor S. D. Merkurov).

Every year more than 200,000 people visit the V. I. Lenin House Museum in Gorki.

The village of Gorki is the center of a kolkhoz named after Vladimir Il’ich.