Lenin and Nadezhda: husband and wife 116 years ago!
On July 22, 1898 Lenin married Nadezhda Krupskaya, to which he would later refer as his ideological “friend, comrade, and sister”.
Lenin had come to know Nadezhda through her best friend, Apollinaria Yakubova, a young and beautiful girl with whom Lenin was romantically involved at the time of their meeting. Both Apollinaria and Nadezhda were members of the Marxist group of St. Petersburg and taught at the evening school for the workers.
One night the young revolutionary from the Volga was invited to aблины/conspiracy party by the Marxists of St. Petersburg. And it was in this legendary Shrovetide party that Lenin first met Nadezhda Krupskaya.
It’s probably in front of a plate like this that Vladimir and Nadezhda made their introductions!
Nadezhda would later recall that Lenin appeared to her as “a very interesting young man”, and the guy must have surely quite an impression on her, since, from that moment onwards, Nadezhda would show Lenin great support and loyalty.
While Lenin was initially still in love with Apollinaria, he surely felt flattered and touched by Nadezhda attention. Word goes that young Vladimir Ilyich Lenin also very much enjoyed the revolutionary talk and the home made delicacies of Nadezhda.
And as one thing leads to another, Lenin eventually fell in love with Nadezhda and the two would later marry while both in exhile in July 1898. With regards to the wedding ceremony, the accounts vary. Some recount the wedding party being a very sober one, where only tea was served. Others would have that the party got out of control, to the dismay of the neighbours.
Although we know that Lenin took some diversions from the conjugal bed, and had a love affair with the French-born revolutionary Inessa Armand, we know of no complaint on Nadezhda side, who very much remained by Lenin’s side until his last days.
