New duds for Lenin

["David Quarter" <davidquarter@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From:                   Geese 4 Peace <geese4peace@xxxxxxxxx>

from
The Mirror
Sat, Oct 11, 2003

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=13502595_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-LENIN-TO-GET-NEW-OUTFIT-name_page.html

LENIN TO GET NEW OUTFIT 
By Will Stewart
  
AFTER 60 years wearing a suit most people wouldn't be seen dead in,
Vladimir Lenin is getting a fashion makeover.

The legendary Soviet leader, embalmed in 1924, is to be given a new
outfit that may even include a colourful new tie.

Russian officials have decided it's time he had a change of wardrobe.

But that doesn't mean he'll be kitted out in the latest Hugo Boss
design. "He will continue to wear clothes in keeping with his era,"
said a stern-faced Kremlin spokesman.

Even when he's all dressed up, poor old Vladimir will still have
nowhere to go. His body will remain on show at his mausoleum on Red
Square, some 133 years after his birth.

His remains were originally clad in a Red Army military jacket, but he
was changed into civvies - the familiar dark, sombre suit - just before
the Second World War.

A dozen scientists will carry out the re-dressing between November 10
and December 29.

"We need to change his suit," said Professor Yuri Denisov-Nilski, head
of the team in charge of preserving the Soviet icon. The project
coincides with the regular dipping of Lenin's remains into a secret
chemical solution that keeps him looking lifelike almost 80 years after
his death.

"Don't expect dramatic changes," said one source. "It will be another
suit but it won't be anything to offend die-hard Communists."

Previously, only Lenin's tie has changed.

Since the fall of Communism in 1991, there have been repeated attempts
to honour Lenin's dying wish by burying him in a grave next to his
mother in St Petersburg.

But supporters have demanded that he should stay in the mausoleum where
tourists used to queue for hours to pay their respects.

"In Soviet times, he was the closest we had to a god," said Ilya
Zbarsky, who worked on the preservation team. "Twice a week, we'd soak
his face and hands in a special solution and improve minor defects."

But times are changing. These days the Soviet experts hire out their
skills at £7,500 a time - to embalm murdered Russian mafia bosses.
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