The face of Lenin's 'true love' revealed
She was described admiringly by Vladimir Lenin's wife as the “primeval force of the Black Earth”, a revolutionary firebrand with sparkling brown eyes whose natural aroma was of “fresh meadow grasses”.
It is no wonder then that the search for an image of Apollinariya Yakubova, considered by some to be the Communist leader's true love, has captured the imagination of generations of historians.
Until now, a photograph of Yakubova has proved elusive. But on 1 May, the Camden New Journal revealed her face for the first time after a researcher dug deep into forgotten vaults in Moscow.
Academics have long debated whether Lenin ever recovered from being rejected by Yakubova – or “Lirochka” as he called her – after she spurned his marriage proposal. Their intimate letters have been scrutinised, and much attention paid to the scorn that was later to be heaped on her by Lenin's wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, who had been one of her closest allies.
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