Lenin at Work

Lenin in his study

Originally published in English by the USSR Information Bulletin, 1947.

Lydia Fotieva, the author of this article, worked with Lenin for a long time as his private secretary. These are her personal reminiscences of the great man with whom she worked in close association.

IN the course of five years, Lenin's study in the Kremlin was the actual headquarters of the Revolution.

I recall the furnishings of the room. Just opposite the door stood a writing table with a simple wooden chair with wickerwork back and seat. On the righthand side of the table stood a lamp with a green silk shade; next to it three telephones with amplifiers. There was also a telephone on the wall and one on the window sill.

Perpendicular to the writing table, forming a letter T as it were, stood a simple office table covered with red cloth; around it, leather arm chairs.

The walls of Lenin's room were lined with bookshelves containing more than 18 hundred volumes, and these were only books which Lenin always kept at hand for reference. The lower shelves of one of the bookcases contained new books which Lenin looked through as soon as they came, selecting the most interesting and necessary ones.

On either side of the writing table were revolving bookcases made especially to Lenin's order. They contained reference books.

In the corner behind the writing table was a Dutch tiled oven; near the oven stood a little bookshelf with foreign newspaper files, and near the window another one with files of the Russian newspapers. There were also many maps.

Lenin was happy in this study and never consented to the numerous proposals to change the room for a larger one or the table for a better one.

Lenin was as simple and modest in every day life as he was at his work. His childhood and youth were spent in modest surroundings, and the disdain for luxury and superfluity remained with him all his life. He was very undemanding where material conditions were concerned, and knew how to do with very little in this respect.

He was equally modest with regard to clothing. I remember his winter coat with its caracul collar, the fur lined cap, the Norfolk jacket and felt boots. In these clothes Lenin did not differ in appearance from the masses of workers at public meetings.

Lenin had an amazing ability to grasp all small details of the work of the state apparatus. On January 18, 1918, he requested the chief administrator of the Council of People's Commissars to inform him personally, immediately, of all complaints reaching the administration of the Council of People's Commissars and the Council of Labor and Defense.

Lenin was exceptionally efficient in his work; he set an example of how to save time. He never wasted a minute. He came to his study at 10 A. M. and worked intensely, looking through countless newspapers and papers, issuing instructions, seeing visitors, conducting meetings, writing articles and letters. In the evening he took a file of papers and books home with him, and in the morning invariably brought notes and instructions for his secretary.

Lenin knew how to save both his own time and that of others. He was never late, and all meetings held under his chairmanship began promptly. People who came to see him by appointment were never made to wait, regardless of the social status of the visitors.

Lenin was modest and cheerful in daily intercourse, an excellent conversationalist, with a great sense of humor. He enjoyed life in all its phases, was extremely fond of nature, of hunting and of long walks through the woods; his favorite sports were swimming, skating and cycling. Lenin loved art and music and books, and spent his rare moments of leisure listening to a talented pianist or rereading a favorite classic.