Lenin's Secret Love Triangle: Wife, Lover, and a Lifelong Bond Revealed

• A book published a year before Lenin's death sensationally revealed his extramarital affair with Inessa Armand, a French-Russian communist and close friend of his wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya.
• Lenin, the founder of the Russian Communist Party and leader of the Soviet Union, maintained a complex relationship with both women throughout his life.
• His wife, Krupskaya, was aware of the affair and reportedly accepted it, even developing a friendship with Armand.
• Lenin was deeply distraught by Armand's death in 1920, with his wife noting his profound grief and emotional breakdown.
• The book, "A Great Love" by Alexandra Kollontai, detailed this love triangle, causing a stir in the Soviet Union and later used by Stalin to target Krupskaya.

Why It Matters: Lenin's life included a complex love triangle with his wife and her friend, a secret that deeply impacted him.