Lenin was born on 22 of April 1870 in Simbirsk. During childhood he gained a nickname "Volodya" which is a very common nickname for the full "Vladimir". He was the third oldest child in his family out of his eight other siblings. From his siblings he was closest to his sister, Olga. As a child he was very bossy and destructive, however always admitted to his misbehavior. He also had a keen interest in sports which he practiced most of the time while playing outdoors. He was renowed by his teachers at Simbirsk Classical Gymnasium for his sport abilities.

When Lenin reached the age of 15 his father suffered a fatal case of brain hemorrhage. It was a few years after his brother's arrest by the tsarist authorities for his anti-establishment behavior. These two events contributed to Lenin's radicalization which became even more clear when he denounced his faith in God and his political activity at school in 1886 where he shared banned leaflets and at one point was even tasked to construct a bomb to assasinate the tsar.

Despite his political activity and the mental suffering from his father's death he did not give up education and eventually graduated at top of his class with a golden award for exceptional performence.

Lenin moved out of his family home in August 1887 and moved near the Kazan University where he decided to continue his education. At that time he resumed his political career and was arrested by police on charges of being a ringleader in the December demonstrations which he took part in.

Concerned by his radicalization, his mother convinced the authorities to let him move to Kazan, where he later joined a revolutionary group led by Nikolai Yevgrafovich Fedoseyev. Fedoseyev introduced Lenin to the famous Karl Marx's book "Capital" which sparked Lenin's interest in Marxism.

Later his mother bought a farm in Samara Oblast. She believed that if Lenin found an interest in agriculture he would stop being so radical. This move had little to none effects and the land was later sold while she kept the house as a summer residence.