V. I.

Lenin

275

TELEGRAM TO P. P. MYSHKIN

8. III. 1919

Myshkin, Chairman of the Gubernia Extraordinary
Commission
Tsaritsyn

You cannot arrest people for disfiguring a portrait. Free

Valentina Pershikova at once, and if she is a counter– revolutionary, keep an eye on
her. [1]

Lenin
Chairman, Council of People’s Commissars

---
Notes:
[1]
Valentina Pershikova, a member of the staff of the Tsaritsyn
Housing Department, was arrested for daubing a portrait of Lenin which
she had torn out of a pamphlet. Requests for Pershikova’s release
were sent in telegrams to Lenin from V. S. Usachov, chief of one
of the Tsaritsyn militia stations, and from Minin, a Red Army
man. On Minin’s telegram Lenin wrote the following instruction to
his secretary: “Remind me when the reply comes from the
Chairman of the Extraordinary Commission (and afterwards hand all
the material over to the topical satirists).” ( Lenin Miscellany XXIV , p. 172.)