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Notes
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This was the centrepiece of a monument erected in 1942 by Finsbury Council. Designed by the Russian architect Berthold Lubetkin, the bust came from the Soviet Embassy. The monument stood in Holford Square, Islington, looking towards number 30 where Lenin had lived from 1902 to 1903 while working on his revolutionary newspaper 'Iskra' ('The Spark'). He shared the office of a socialist publisher, which is now the Marx Memorial Library. When Russia became Britain's ally in the Second World War, socialist Finsbury Council planned the monument as a sign of friendship. Some thought Communism should not be celebrated and it was vandalised. Moved into storage in 1951 and eventually displayed at Islington Town Hall in the 1970s, it was vandalised twice more with red paint thrown over it.
Islington Museum
London
Title
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), Leader of the 1917 Russian Communist Revolution
Date
1942
Medium
painted concrete & wood
Measurements
H 60 x W 40 x D 36 cm
Accession number
1996.2
Acquisition method
transferred from Finsbury Borough Council to Islington Museum, 1996
Work type
Bust
Signature/marks description
on reverse of collar: R. Kow -37
Inscription description
on reverse of collar: 19-C Mor (?)
