Origin of Lenin

[Alexei Kokin]

The official Soviet version, if I remember correctly, was that Vladimir Ul'yanov published an article in defense of striking gold-field workers in the upper Lena area (around the Bodaybo river) in 1912 and signed it "Nikolay Lenin." The standoff between the workers and the field owners ended in bloodshed (250 workers were killed) and provoked strikes all across the country.


Alexei
http://therussiandilettante.blogspot.com

Scott Petersen <petersen at MA.MEDIAS.NE.JP> wrote:
Stalin took his pseudonym from stal'. Where did Lenin get his name? The
first possibility that comes to mind is len', but that doesn't seem
likely. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenin) states as fact
that he took it from the River Lena in Siberia. Another source
(http://moscow.gramota.ru/map123.shtml -- scroll down a ways to find
the pertinent comments) says we don't really know. They do, however,
mention the explanation given in Wikipedia. Wikipedia also says the
Lenin was never known as Nikolai Lenin in Russia. The later article
says he was.

Of course, Wikipedia is not completely authoritative, Does anyone have
anything more authoritative? Should we just take the careful exposition
of the gramota site as the best answer?

TIA

Scott Petersen
Nagoya, Japan

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