Written: 11 September, 1900. Letter sent from Ufa to Podolsk
Published: 1931 in Lenin’s Letters to Relatives Printed from the original.
Source: Lenin
Collected Works, Progress Publishers, 1977, Moscow, Volume 37, pages 590-591.
Translated/Edited: George H. Hanna and Robert Daglish.
Transcription/Markup: D. Walters
Public Domain: Lenin Internet Archive 2008. You may freely copy, distribute, display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet Archive” as the source/editing/transcription/markup information noted above.
Her Excellency Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova,
Kedrova’s House,
Podolsk (Moscow Gubernia)
September 11
Our letters must have crossed in the post, Manyasha dear. At the end of August 1 wrote to Maria Alexandrovna a most minutely detailed letter describing my way of life. I wanted to send the French book with a young lady who was supposed to come to visit you but who, it turned out, had found a travelling companion to go to Paris with; I think she is going to Paris for no particular purpose, just for amusement, she has not much intention of studying and cannot come to Podolsk. And so I sent the book to you by post, I did not go to the post office myself and in my hurry forgot to write “Registered” on the parcel and so it went by ordinary book post. I am afraid it might get lost. Please write and let me know if you received it. Speaking of books—when Volodya was staying here he promised to send an acquaintance The Development of Capitalism but forgot to do it and now asks for it to be done. To prevent any unnecessary posting please send one copy direct to the following address: Birsk (Ufa Gubernia), Pavel Fyodorovich Savinov. I think that is all there is to be done. Has D.I. got anything? When are you moving to Moscow? Are you all well? When is Anya returning?
There are no changes here, we are both well. I am busy with my teaching, I teach all subjects, even Latin; there are crowds of people here with nothing to do, as before; I am busy with German but there seems very little time for it. It is, of course, much easier to study the language with a German teacher than to work alone. Volodya seldom writes, says little about himself and complains of the turmoil. Olga Alexandrovna is not coming to Ufa because she has got fixed up in Krasnoyarsk, and Mikhail Alexandrovich is in the regular army. Zina is anxious to get to Russia and does not write in very great detail. I am expecting to see a returning comrade in a few days; he should have passed through here a long time ago but he was taken ill with dysentery just before he left and is still recovering slowly.
Here in Ufa there is absolutely impassable mud such as I have never in my life seen before, and all the time it is raining, raining ….
Perfectly beastly.
Well, good-bye, many kisses for you, for you and Maria Alexandrovna. Regards from Mother.
Yours,
Nadya