V. I. Lenin - Dead 77 Years And Still Looking Good
The former Soviets, if I remember rightly, were often the object of ridicule and scorn in the West. Sometimes it was well deserved, but often they didn't get the credit they deserved. The worldwide eradication of smallpox is one of those things Soviet science got oh so right, as were many aspects of their space program; the U.S. may have beaten them to the moon, but the Soviets got up there first, and don't forget Sputnik.
I think that all that, as fascinating as it may be, pales in comparison to the heights (and yes, the artistry) the Soviets pushed the state of embalming human corpses when Joseph Stalin, even before Lenin was quite cold (let alone dead), led an effort to not only preserve Lenin's corpse for an official state of mourning, but for all and forever time. Vladimir Ilich Lenin, you see, was to literally become a permanently displayed religious icon. There, in a glass sarcophagus housed in an elegantly cold mausoleum in the heart of Red Square, Lenin lays in a remarkable state of preservation to this very day. And with the opening of the tomb to long lines of visitors who queued up for hours, day after day, to view the leader of the great October Revolution, the Soviet state had the perfect focal point to rally round, so to speak.
Here's what Stalin had to say about all this, and, being the fine administrator he was, he was thinking ahead; Lenin, you see, was not in the best of shape, and Stalin certainly had great ideas he was itching to implement.
"Comrades, Vladimir Ilich's health has grown so much worse lately that it is to be feared he will soon be no more. We must therefore consider what is to be done when the great sorrow befalls us…modern science is capable of preserving his body for a considerable time, long enough at least for us to grow used to the idea of his being no longer with us."
Well, comrade readers, I suspect that, since it's been 77 years since the VI's passing, if we aren't used to it by now, we never will be.
I think that this is an excellent time to delve into the mechanics of embalming for a moment, to really understand how difficult it is to preserve a corpse for a few days, let alone for decades. The scientific team chosen by the communist leaders was charged with the unprecedented task of making V. I. presentable for the long haul, even if you consider Egyptian mummies, who weren't designed to mimic the living, only to house the soul of the dead in the afterlife.
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