Russians Want to Get Rid of Their Most Macabre Tourist Attraction – Lenin’s Body

by besslovejoyJanuary 24, 2011August 6, 2012

Screen shot 2011-01-24 at 11.53.03 AM — Lenin chilling in his coffin

It’s that time again. Every year at the end of January, Russians start debating whether they want to keep the founder of the Soviet Union hanging out in a mausoleum in the middle of Moscow’s Red Square, looking more or less the same as the day he died. Now, some members of the Russian parliament have launched a poll to see whether it’s time to finally bury Lenin. Voting is on-going, but so far there’s strong support for getting the guy into the ground. From the BBC:

Of more than 250,000 people who have voted in the poll, two-thirds so far say Lenin should now be buried.

The revolutionary leader’s embalmed body has been on display in a mausoleum in Red Square in Moscow since his death in 1924.

The debate about what to with his body resurfaces with every anniversary of his death – on 21 January 1924.

For more, check out my earlier post on Lenin and other deceased despots. You can also see a picture of Lenin’s corpse as a cake, if that’s something you’re interested in seeing. (He has also been honored with a turnip.)

Burying Lenin is not a simple task. Boris Yeltsin already tried to do it twice, but was defeated by old-guard Communists, and by the Russian Orthodox Church – who don’t exactly want a life-long atheist on their hands.

Here’s a question for all you awesome science nerds: with that many embalming chemicals clinging to his body, would Lenin ever decompose?

Turnips of the Deceased

by besslovejoyApril 21, 2010August 6, 2012

It turns out that making food look like Lenin’s tomb is bit of a thing. Here is a shot by snarlenarlen of a turnip cut to look like Lenin’s corpse. Apparently the glass is corn syrup.

(Note: I found this randomly on Flickr, but this is clearly the work of an evil genius. Also, are those brownies he’s lying on? Delicious!)

Cakes of the Deceased

by besslovejoyApril 21, 2010September 2, 2012

Addendum to the post on Lenin’s corpse: perhaps the most ill-advised cake ever.

(Thanks, Jonathan!)

Ferdinand Marcos, Lenin, and Other Deceased Despots

by besslovejoyApril 21, 2010

A New York Times article I read this morning contains an interesting tidbit about the fate of Ferdinand Marcos, notorious former despot of the Philippines (married to Imelda Marcos, she of the 1,060 pairs of shoes).

“Mr. Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, and although his body has been returned to the Philippines, it remains unburied. It lies embalmed in a crypt in his hometown as his widow, Imelda, waits for permission to inter him in an official ‘heroes cemetery’ in Manila.”

Here’s Imelda visiting Ferdinand’s corpse, which is on display for visitors inside a crystal coffin:

There’s a long tradition of embalming despots. After all, if you’re going to create a personality cult, why let it end at death? One of the best-known cases is Lenin, who died in 1924. According to Melanie King’s fantastic book The Dying Game, Stalin figured out the propaganda value of embalming Lenin after watching the public mourn him as he lay in state. At the time, no embalming method could preserve a corpse for very long. A team of determined Soviet doctors devised a new technique, involving glycerin, alcohol, and other ingredients, which has managed to preserve Lenin to this day. At least, so says the Scientific Research Institute for Biological Structures in Moscow, the people charged with maintaining his corpse. The same technique used on Lenin was later used on a whole host of other Communist dictators, including Stalin himself, Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, and Kim Il-Song.

Today, Lenin is still on display today in a mausoleum on Moscow’s Red Square. Apparently, he gets both a new suit and coat of embalming chemicals each year. (See a picture of his bath here.) But there are rumors that a fungus is growing on his neck, and that his ears are beginning to turn blue. Even the Weekly Word News is getting concerned:

In fact, several scholars also doubt whether the Soviets had the technology to pull off such an embalming job in 1924. They think the body inside the mausoleum is actually made of wax. Visitors can only see him through a thick pane of glass, so it’s impossible to discern whether the corpse is real. I don’t know about you, but I think I’d feel a little better if it wasn’t.