“Alliluyevs. Life of a qualified worker’s family during the revolution in Saint Petersburg.” Does this spark your interest? Then let’s delve into the story of the Alliluyevs’ Apartment Museum.
This museum unveils a captivating narrative of a family intertwined with pivotal historical events. The Alliluyevs’ Apartment Museum is not just a collection of artifacts. It is a portal to the past. It reveals the everyday life of a family during a tumultuous era.
In March 1917 the Alliluyev family moved into apartment 20. The address was house number 17 on 10th Rozhdestvenskaya Street. Today the street is called 10th Sovetskaya Street. Sergey Yakovlevich Alliluyev a highly qualified worker moved there with his large family. They occupied a cozy four-room apartment. It was on the 6th floor of a revenue house. The house was built by the fashionable architect Marian Stanislavovich Lialevich.
The Alliluyevs’ Apartment Museum reveals several historical spheres. It shows the everyday life of a qualified worker’s family. It also presents the organization of life in revenue houses. These houses were typical in the early 20th century. The museum also touches on the events of 1917. It shows the history of the Peski district where the museum is located.
This apartment connects to the events of 1917. It also relates to the activities of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. From July 7 to 9 1917 Lenin and Grigory Zinoviev hid here. They were escaping persecution by the Provisional Government. Disguised as haymakers they attended a meeting. It involved members of the Central Committee of the RSDLP.
The Bolshevik leaders decided to appear before the court of the Provisional Government. On July 9 Lenin and Zinoviev left the apartment. From August to October 1917 Stalin lived in this apartment. He even indicated the address of the Alliluyevs’ apartment as his place of residence. He did this when participating in elections to the Constituent Assembly. This is the only officially preserved apartment of Stalin in Saint Petersburg.
In 1917 the Alliluyev family lived in this apartment. Sergey Yakovlevich Alliluyev was a worker and a Bolshevik. His youngest daughter Nadezhda became Stalin’s wife in 1919.
The museum contains materials about the fates of all members. These include the Stalin-Alliluyev family. Through their destinies visitors see the tragic fates. They understand the lives of ordinary people against the backdrop of great politics.
The Alliluyevs’ Apartment Museum became a branch of the Smolny Museum in 1997. Before that in 1938 it was opened as the Museum of Vladimir Lenin. It was part of the Leningrad branch of the Central Museum of Lenin. In 1992 it became the State Historical Memorial. The Saint Petersburg Museum of Vladimir Lenin was renamed in 1997.
Here in the Alliluyevs’ Apartment Museum you can touch a piece of history. You can witness the items that were witnesses and participants in those events. For example the museum has a razor. Lenin used it during his time in hiding. He shaved his mustache and beard. This helped him avoid recognition on his dangerous journey to the Primorsky railway station.
The Alliluyevs’ Apartment Museum offers a unique insight. It illuminates several historical spheres at once. You’ll gain insights into the lives of ordinary people. You will also see how they were affected by extraordinary events. This is a place where history comes alive. It resonates with the stories of those who lived it.