Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (22 April [O.S. 10 April] 1870 – 21 January 1924) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the
October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years (1917–1924), as it fought to establish
control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a socialist economic system.