File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1997/97-02-25.170, message 94


Date: 25 Feb 97 02:57:50 EST
From: Chris Burford <100423.2040-AT-CompuServe.COM>
Subject: M-I: Lenin's cannibalism


I was surprised by the suggestion of syphilis and I agree the 
sources would have to be checked. This sounds probably no 
more than lay speculation. 

>From time to time medical articles are published discussing the
cause of death of interesting historical figures. My recollection,
sometime in the last 15 years is reading probably in the British
Medical Journal an article about the cause of Lenin's death 
describing a process of poorly controlled hypertension with
intermittent strokes which caused a step-wise deterioration in 
his abilities. 

I cannot remember exactly of course. 

Primary or secondary syphilis, which anyone could get
without being particularly promiscuous is seldom a cause of 
death, and would not be relevant. Tertiary syphilis in which
the brain is markedly affected may develop after some years and
is associated with a florid type of insanity with grandiose 
delusions of a bizarre nature - the sort of person rarely met now
even in old psychiatric hospitals who may come up to you and say
he is Napoleon.

Lenin however really was Lenin, and I have not heard the slightest 
suggestion from any of his detractors that he suffered from delusions
in his last years. On the contrary his contributions were marked 
by an ability to re-appraise the actual balance of forces and 
think issues through in a penetrating way. His article "On Co-operation"
which was written one year before his death, and which is in our 
archives, only IMO arguably shows a slight loss of edge compared 
to previous writings.

As for Lenin's lifestyle, despite another evolutionary psychology
article in a current issue
of one of the popular scientific journals that promiscuity is a
normal feature of primate males who have achieved power, 
["Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac" - Henry Kissinger]
I see no reason to think that Lenin would have opposed the sex-is-as 
healthy-as-a-glass of water type of thinking if his practice had 
been very different.

So unless a serious medical source can be found, and it 
should be possible to do a search on the medical literature, 
giving a credible review article demonstrating features of Lenin's
medical history consistent with syphilis, we should give the 
syphilis angle no further credibility.

Chris Burford
London.


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