Vladimir Ilyich Lenin; born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (22 April 1870 - 21 January 1924) was a Russian communist revolutionary; politician and political theorist.

Lenin served as the leader of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917; and then concurrently as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1922; until his death. Under his administration; the Russian Empire disintegrated and was replaced by the Soviet Union; a single-party constitutionally socialist state; all wealth including land; industry and business were nationalised.

Based in Marxism; his theoretical contributions to Marxist thought are known as Leninism.