My Favorite Zombies

Can We Let Them Rest in Peace?

Vladimir Lenin, leader of the revolution that brought Communism to Russia 100 years ago, died in 1924. Since then, his body has been on display in a mausoleum in Moscow's Red Square. Scientists, using chemical baths and processes, have preserved the empty shell of his corpse—its brain and all its organs have been removed. Every now and then, they must "freshen up" the corpse with another treatment. Earlier this year, for the centennial, Lenin was fitted with a new set of clothes.

In 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian President Boris Yeltsin favored burying Lenin. That didn't happen for various reasons. The government refused to pay to maintain the corpse, but...