How was Lenin's body preserved?

Each year the Russian government spends nearly 200,000 USD to preserve Lenin's body.

The current remains of leader Lenin.

Eyes closed, beard neatly trimmed, wearing a black suit, hands resting on his lap, lying peacefully in a transparent glass coffin, it seems that the first impression that many people have when visiting the first leader of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin, is that he is sleeping.

Many people believe that it is just a wax figure replacing the body of a person who died 92 years ago. But it can be affirmed that it is the body of leader Lenin, or at least a part of it.

With careful preservation and regular embalming, scientists believe that Lenin's body can be kept intact for centuries.

Last month, the Russian Federal Security Service (FGS) announced that it would continue to implement the 'medical and biological project to preserve Lenin's body' in 2016. The estimated cost of this project is up to 13 million rubles (equivalent to 197,000 USD).

When the great Russian leader died in January 1924, no one expected to preserve his body for long. After the autopsy, Lenin’s body was temporarily preserved with embalming fluid to prevent decomposition, giving the people a chance to pay their respects to the national leader.

For four days, his body was placed in an open coffin in Red Square, attracting more than 50,000 people from all over the world to pay their respects. During that time, due to the low temperature in Moscow, combined with preservatives, 56 days after Lenin's death, his body remained intact.

Soviet officials began to consider preserving Lenin's body. At first, embalming agents were not supported, as they believed that simply freezing the body would be enough. However, in March 1924, two chemists, Vladimir Vorobyov and Boris Zbarsky, proposed embalming, since freezing would still cause decomposition.

With the weather gradually getting warmer and the temperature rising, the government decided to try embalming. At that time, Lenin's body was somewhat destroyed, with black spots appearing on his skin. With the intensive work of experts day and night, Lenin's body was restored and for the first time after the preservation process, his body was placed in the mausoleum in Red Square in August 1924 for visitors.
Since then, a group of scientists has been dedicated to this work. At one point, the “Lenin laboratory” mobilized about 200 experts to work on the project.

Although the number of workers has been reduced, the work must remain the same. Every few days, the research team returns to the mausoleum to check the body and adjust the lighting and temperature accordingly. Every 18 months, Lenin's body is taken to a secret laboratory built beneath the mausoleum for "embalming".

Here, scientists washed the body and injected chemicals to preserve it. According to the scientific team, the bone structure, skin and tissues on his body were retained, but the internal organs and brain were removed. Currently, a part of his brain is being stored for research at the Brain Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

According to News