Vladimir Ilych Lenin was the leader of Bolshevik Revolution and head of state for Soviet Russia (1917 to 1924) and the Soviet Union (1922 to 1924). The Communist leader died at age 53 in 1924 after a fourth stroke and rumors of being poisoned. Within a week, his body was placed in a wooden tomb in Red Square. A marble and red granite mausoleum replacement was designed by Aleksey Shchusev and finished in 1930. From 1953 until 1961, the body of Joseph Stalin was interred next to him. Visitors can view Lenin’s embalmed body within a sarcophagus at scheduled times for free.
