Nadezhda Krupskaya - Married Life

Married Life

It was at a similar discussion circle that Krupskaya first met Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, a dedicated Marxist who later came to be called Lenin. Krupskaya was impressed by his speeches but not his personality, at least at first. It is hard to know very much of the courtship between Lenin and Krupskaya as neither party spoke often of personal matters.

In October 1896, several months after Lenin was arrested, Krupskaya was also arrested. After some time, Lenin was sentenced to exile in Siberia. They had very little communication while in prison but before leaving for Siberia, Lenin wrote a "secret note" to Krupskaya that was delivered by her mother. It suggested that she could be permitted to join him in Siberia if she told people she was his fiancée. At that time, Krupskaya was still awaiting sentencing in Siberia. Krupskaya was permitted to accompany Lenin but only if they were married as soon as she arrived.

In her memoirs, Krupskaya notes "with him even such a job as translation was a labour of love". Her relationship with Lenin was more professional than marital, which Kollontai compared to slavery, but she remained loyal, never once considering divorce.

Krupskaya is believed to have suffered from Graves' disease, an illness affecting the thyroid gland in the neck which causes the eyes to bulge and the neck to tighten. In female sufferers, it can also disrupt the menstrual cycle, which may explain why Lenin and Krupskaya never had children (and the rumors about Lenin having an affair with Inessa Armand).

Upon his release, Lenin went off to Europe and settled in Munich where Krupskaya later met up with him upon her release (1901). After she had arrived the couple moved to London.