A team of tractor drivers visit Krupskaya's office in Moscow, 1935 -- Daily LIFT #400
Nadezhda Krupskaya stanch revolutionary, Marxist and Bolshevik -- who went into exile with Lenin in 1898 -- was born February 26, 1869. Deputy Commissar for Education in the USSR from 1929 until her death in 1939 her impact on the Soviet education system was profound. She also helped to create the Soviet library system and Soviet library science.
Her work ethic was astounding. In the year this photo was taken alone she published 118 articles, reviewed 3,365 letters sent to her, was involved in submitting 125 reports and conducted 210 meetings.
On February 23, 1939, three days before her 70th birthday, she attended a morning conference devoted to the third five-year plan for education at which she spoke of the need to build more schools and libraries in rural communities. She never returned to her apartment going instead that afternoon to a healthcare facility. She died February 27, four days later.
Sadly she never saw the many letters and telegrams she had received for her birthday.