Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, or Lenin, was born on April 22, 1870, in the sleepy little town of Simbrisk, Russia. Childhood in Simbrisk was serene and pleasant for Lenin, and his father, Ilya Nikolaievich, was highly respected by many of the nobles in this province.
             Vladimir took just as much interest in his schoolwork than he did with his extra-curricular activities on the home front. He quickly impressed his teachers with his keen intelligence and his outstanding memory. He mastered his classes so brilliantly, that his father became alarmed and began to wonder if it was harmful for Vladimir to learn everything with such grace and ease. He was on another level from all the other students, and that created a large gap between him and the rest of the class.
             Alexander and Anna continued their studies at the U of St. Petersburg, and Alexander won the gold medal for his chemistry experiment on worms. Later, Alexander became involved in politics and he and a group of men formed a terrorist faction. Alexander used his knowledge of chemistry to build several bombs, as the young terrorists planned to assassinate the tsar. Alexander was later arrested for his crimes and went to trial on April 19, 1887 and was hanged with four other conspirators' one month later. Upon Alexander's death, Lenin would become taunted as the brother of the man who tried to kill the tsar.
             After being barred from the Kazan University for having the last name of Ulyanov, the name that tried to kill the tsar, Lenin was allowed to take examinations as an external student at the University of St. Petersburg. In just over a year, without help, Lenin progressed through a four-year course and passed his examinations in 1891, and was admitted to the bar at the young age of twenty-one. After attaining such a great thing however, it was impaired with sadness as his sister Olga, a student at the U of St. Petersburg, died of typhus. Lenin then returned to Samara to bec...