10 Famous Historical Figures Who Changed Their Name

4. Vladimir Lenin

The leader of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia that brought about the formation of the Soviet Union and the implementation of Communism in a nation for the first time, Vladimir Lenin was born in Simbirsk in April 1870. Baptised as Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, it was not until December 1901 that he adopted the pseudonym of "Lenin" in order to write his politically-motivated pamphlets having been exiled to Siberia in the far corner of Russia. It is likely that the name "Lenin" was inspired by the River Lena in Siberia, and it was under this name that he published a political pamphlet named "What Is To Be Done" in 1902. From this point on, "the father of the USSR" decided to use Lenin as his Bolshevik name - and it was by this that he was referred to by other members of his party.