2023-10-27 05:48:19
In Geneva, there are three places where the Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, left his traces. The first is “Karoujka”, rue de Carouge 91-93. The Russian Bolsheviks loved this place because there was a 100-seat restaurant that belonged to Lepechinskaya’s family. In the same house in Carouge was the typography (printing house) of the Bolshevik newspapers: “Iskra”, “En avant” and “Ecole marxisme de Genève”. The Iskra (spark) played a big role, because as Lenin himself said: “A newspaper is the essential weapon for fueling a revolution”.
Besides that, in this house, there was the library composed of revolutionary literature. During the period of the USSR, this library was the basis for the founding of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism.
Karouzhka: a foot in Russian history
I went to see with my own eyes the house of “Karoujka”, located on a noisy street. In front of this building, trams and cars pass constantly. According to the lease, Lenin was appointed as a “literator”, and paid 600 francs per year for his accommodation. Nowadays, on the ground floor of this building, there is a grocery store and a Portuguese café. People are drinking and chatting. In silence, I look at this aisle 91-93 and I enter into history. One of his fellow emigrants from Geneva describes him thus: “A man always poorly dressed, smaller than his wife, with a pockmarked face, in short not a beauty, but according to the neighbor in question a friendly character who was interested in everything and to all”.
I imagined a person exactly like the one described in the rue de Carouge. Then, I headed towards the Junction where there is a second house where a plaque hangs, marked “Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, Lenin, Founder of the Soviet Union, lived in this house from 1904 to 1905”.
Lenin: beer lover
Lenin’s third address was located just opposite the University of Geneva near the Parc des Bastions, where a Japanese restaurant is located today.
“Takumi.” At the time, there was a brewery called “Landolt”. By the way, Lenin was a great beer lover. The father of the Russian revolution is said to have engraved his name on a table at the Landolt Brewery.
A compatriot of Lenin, Bobrovskaia-Zelikson said in his memory that in 1904, on New Year’s Eve at Landolt, Lenin gave a toast and spoke of: “The great approaching storm”.
We may be the father of communism, but we nonetheless have an account in a very capitalist bank, the Union Bank of Switzerland! In 1917, his long-awaited revolution was regarding to take place in Russia and he decided to return home. But before leaving Geneva, Lenin stopped by the bank. He empties his account, except for 5 francs and 5 centimes, corresponding to his contribution to the party. A hundred years later, the account still exists and the 5 francs and 5 centimes have become 12 francs 90 centimes, thanks to interest.
Short history is often more interesting than big history, particularly in this case, for those who lived under the Soviet regime.
From the same author :
Desalpe: the mysterious sound of cow bells
The blood of women
Photo credit :
1698399787
#story #emerges
