Youth
Born Sergei Mironovich Kostrikov (Ко́стриков) to a poor family in Urzhum (then in Vyatka Governorate of the Russian Empire), Kirov lost his parents when he was young. His father, Miron Kostrikov, had left him at a tender age; his mother, Yekaterina Kitun Kostrikova, also died the following year. Sergey was brought up by his grandmother before being sent to an orphanage at seven years of age. In 1901 a group of wealthy benefactors provided a scholarship for him to attend an industrial school at Kazan. After gaining his degree in Engineering he moved to Tomsk. As Russian society went into crisis, Kirov became a Marxist and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) in 1904.
Read more about this topic: Sergey Kirov
Famous quotes containing the word youth:
“Call the bald man, “Boy;” make the sage thy toy;
Greet the youth with solemn face; praise the fat man for his grace.”
—Helen Rowland (1875–1950)
“Youth! There is nothing like youth. The middle-aged are mortgaged to Life. The old are in Life’s lumber-room. But youth is the Lord of Life. Youth has a kingdom waiting for it. Every one is born a king, and most people die in exile.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“Could beauty be beaten out,
O youth the cities have sent
to strike at each other’s strength,
it is you who have kept her alight.”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)