Monuments of Lenin 100 years after the Russian Revolution | The larger picture

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A century after the Russian Revolution, the influence of its leader Vladimir Lenin has faded but his image remains on monuments built across the former Soviet Union as part of a personality cult.

Lenin was born in 1870 and became one of the most important leaders of the 20th century as the revolution inspired by Karl Marx transformed Russia and influenced socialists around the world for decades.

. Uzhur, RUSSIA. Reuters/Ilya Naymushin

A monument to Lenin stands in a park in the Siberian town of Uzhur in the Krasnoyarsk region.

As the first leader of the one-party communist state, Lenin redistributed land and nationalized industry and banking in an effort to defend the working class. He also used large-scale violence to crush perceived opponents of his Marxist ideology.

When he died in 1924, the Soviet authorities laid his body in a mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square, where he remains to this day.

. Tbilisi, Georgia. Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili

A damaged monument to Lenin sits in an abandoned private courtyard outside Tbilisi, Georgia.

They also built monuments and statues of him throughout the Soviet Union, with the representative often giving a speech to supporters at a train station in what is now Saint Petersburg when he arrived from exile by train in April 1917 to lead the revolution.

Many memorials have been toppled or removed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, but others remain, reflecting a debate in Russia over its legacy.

Written by Matthew Mpoke Bigg

. Vetka, BELARUS. Reuters/Vasily Fedosenko

A plaque bearing Lenin’s name is seen on a wall of a house in the town of Vetka, Belarus.