Lenin the Immortal

[Chris Doss]

Lenin remains could remain in mausoleum for another 100 years: expert
AFP
February 28, 2002
   
The embalmed remains of Vladimir Lenin, which have been on display in a Red 
Square mausoleum since 1924, will be presentable for at least another 100 
years, a Russian expert revealed.

The mummified corpse of Soviet Communism's founding father "is in a very
good 
condition and could stay in the mausoleum for 100 years with the appropriate

care," said the deputy director of the Russian centre for bio-medical 
technologies, Yury Denisov-Nikolsky.

The specialists of the centre "are doing all they can to preserve the
remains 
of the Guide of the International Proletariat for a long time", he told the 
RIA-Novosti news agency Thursday.

The mausoleum was closed Thursday for six weeks "for preventative work," 
according to the Kremlin administration cited by the Interfax news agency.

This will consist of "examining Lenin's corpse," Denisov-Nikolsky said.

The debate over the future of Lenin's remains has quietened down since 
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was opposed to attempts by liberals

to remove Lenin from his symbolic resting-place just under the Kremlin walls

and bury him.

The Communists are fiercely opposed to the initiative.

A recent poll showed that 66 percent of people in Russia viewed Lenin's role

in the history of their country as positive.