To the Governor of Yenisei Province
Administratively exiled on political grounds,
Assistant to a sworn attorney,
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, residing
in the village of Shushenskoye, Minusinsk District
PETITION
On May 7, 1898, my fiancée—Nadezhda Krupskaya, an administratively exiled woman—arrived in the village of Shushenskoye. Her initial place of exile had been designated as Ufa Governorate; however, the Minister of Internal Affairs granted her permission to reside in the village of Shushenskoye, on the condition that she marry me.

Immediately upon my fiancée’s arrival, on May 10, 1898, I submitted a petition to the Minusinsk District Justice of the Peace requesting that he issue me a certificate authorizing my marriage.

Since no response was received to this petition, while I was in the town of Minusinsk, on May 20, I personally appeared before the Justice of the Peace and reiterated my request. The Justice of the Peace informed me that he could not issue the certificate, as he did not possess my official personnel file—and that once his office received my personnel file, the requested certificate would be forwarded. Despite this assurance, I still have not received the certificate, even though more than a month and a half has passed since the petition was filed. This inexplicable delay takes on particular significance for me, given that my fiancée is being denied social assistance until she marries me (this is precisely the response she received today, June 30, when she submitted a petition for welfare benefits). Thus arises a highly peculiar contradiction: on the one hand, the highest administrative authorities, acting on my petition, have authorized the transfer of my fiancée to the village of Shushenskoye—and made it a condition of this authorization that she marry me without delay; on the other hand, I am utterly unable to secure from the local authorities the document necessary for the completion of our marriage; and in the end, it is my fiancée who bears the blame, left without any means of subsistence.

Based on the foregoing, I have the honor to most respectfully request Your Excellency to issue the following orders:

1) To locate my official personnel file—or some form of personal identification document—or to obtain the requisite verification from the appropriate official authority;

2) To issue me the legally required certificate or document authorizing my marriage.

Administratively exiled on political grounds,
Assistant to a sworn attorney,
Vladimir Ulyanov
Village of Shushenskoye, June 30,
1898.

First published

April 23, 1929, in the newspaper

“Krasnoyarsky Rabochiy,” No. 92

Printed from the manuscript