The Historian A. I. Yakovlev and the Revolutionary V. I. Ulyanov-Lenin (Basing on Documents from the Federal Security Service Archive of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast and the Memoirs)

Abstract

The paper highlights lasting acquaintance of the famous Russian historian A. I. Yakovlev and V. I. Ulyanov- Lenin. When considering the subject the records on the “Academic Case” preserved in the Federal Security Service Archive of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast are introduced into the discourse. The author concludes that despite essential controversies the persons specified kept amity during some decades. There are no A. I. Yakovlev memoirs about V. I. Lenin in numerous “memories about Lenin” printed in the USSR, in particular, in the 10-volume edition of 1989–1991. Of course, the main obstacle was his involvement in the so-called “Academic Case”. He was never rehabilitated to the end of his life. At the same time, A. I. Yakovlev, having for a long time known and deeply respected Lenin as a person and a politician, did not try to glorify his image and cultivate his ideas and actions. Unlike many other authors of Lenin’s memoirs, often exaggerating the deeds and embellishing the leader’s personality, A. I. Yakovlev strives to give a relatively objective human and everyday assessment of Lenin’s life and work.