Editing Vladimir Lenin (section)

==== Childhood: 1870–1887 ====
Lenin's father was the fourth child of impoverished tailor Nikolai Vassilievich Ulyanov who lived in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrakhan Astrakhan]. Ilya escaped poverty by studying physics and mathematics at a University before gaining a teaching job at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Nobles Penza Institute for the Nobility] in 1854. Introduced to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Alexandrovna_Ulyanova Maria Alexandrovna Blank] (1835–1916), they married in the summer of 1863.From a relatively prosperous background, Mariya was the daughter of a Russian-Jewish physician, Alexander Dmitrievich Blank, and his German-Swedish wife, Anna Ivanovna Grosschopf. Dr Blank had insisted on providing his children with a good education, ensuring that Mariya learned Russian, German, English and French, and that she was well versed in Russian literature.Soon after their wedding, Ilya obtained a job in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizhni_Novgorod Nizhni Novgorod], rising to become Director of Primary Schools in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simbirsk Simbirsk] district six years later. Five years after that, he was promoted to Director of Public Schools for the province, overseeing the foundation of over 450 schools as a part of the government's plans for modernisation. Awarded the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_St._Vladimir Order of St. Vladimir], he became a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_nobility hereditary nobleman].

The middle-class couple had two children, Anna (born 1864) and Alexander (born 1868) before the birth of their third child, Vladimir "Volodya" Ilyich ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_language Russian]: Владимир Ильич Ульянов), on 10 April 1870, baptised in St Nicholas Cathedral several days later. They would be followed by three more children, Olga (born 1871), Dmitry (born 1874) and Mariya (born 1878). Another brother, Nikolai, had died several days after birth in 1873. Ilya was a devout member of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Orthodox_Church Russian Orthodox Church] and baptised his children into it, although Mariya – a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheranism Lutheran] – was largely indifferent to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity Christianity], a view that influenced her children. Both parents were [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchism monarchists] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_conservatism liberal conservatives], being committed to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_reform_of_1861 Emancipation reform of 1861] introduced by the reformist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_II_of_Russia Tsar Alexander II]; they avoided political radicals and there is no evidence that the Tsarist police ever put them under surveillance for subversive thought.

Every summer they left their home in Moscow Street, Simbirsk and holidayed at a rural manor in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenino-Kokushkino Kokushkino], shared with Mariya's Veretennikov cousins.Among his siblings, Vladimir was closest to his sister Olya, whom he bossed around, having an extremely competitive nature; he could be destructive, but usually admitted misbehaviour.A keen sportsman, he spent much of his free time outdoors or playing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess chess], but his father insisted that he devote his life to study, leading him to excel at school, the Simbirsk Classical Gimnazia, a strictly disciplinarian and conservative institution. By his teenage years, Vladimir was coaching his elder sister in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin Latin] and gave private tuition to a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuvash_people Chuvash] student.

Ilya Ulyanov died of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_haemorrhage brain haemorrhage] on 12 January 1886, when Vladimir was 16 years old.Vladimir's behaviour became erratic and confrontational, and shortly thereafter he [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism renounced his belief] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God God].<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>At the time, Vladimir's elder brother [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Ulyanov Aleksandr "Sacha" Ulyanov] was studying biology at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg_State_University St. Petersburg University], in 1885 having been awarded a gold medal for his dissertation, after which he was elected onto the university's Scientific-Literary Society. He had become involved in political agitation against the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_monarchy absolute monarchy] of reactionary [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar Tsar] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_III_of_Russia Alexander III] which governed the Russian Empire, reading the writings of a number of banned leftists, including [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Pisarev Dmitry Pisarev], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Dobrolyubov Nikolay Dobrolyubov], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Chernyshevsky Nikolay Chernyshevsky] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx Karl Marx]. Organising protests against the government, he joined a socialist revolutionary cell bent on assassinating the Tsar and with his scientific background was selected to construct a bomb. Before they carried out the attack, the conspirators were arrested and tried. On 25 April 1887, Sacha was sentenced to death by hanging, and executed on 8 May.Despite the emotional trauma brought on by the recent deaths of his father and brother, Vladimir continued with his studies, leaving school with a gold medal for his exceptional performance, and decided that he wanted to study law at Kazan University.