V. I.

Lenin

143

To:   HIS MOTHER

November 9, 1902

Mother dearest, I received your letter quite a long time ago but have
somehow been unable to get down to answering it; and anyway I have been expecting an answer to my previous
letter. Mitya’s release [2] —in my last letter I wrote that I
was sure of it—actually took place much quicker than
I expected. I am particularly glad for Anyuta’s sake, because she has not had to spend a long time hanging about
various government offices (often an extremely unpleasant
business, even more unpleasant than being in prison!) and
has at last been able to go to Mark. She had been wandering
from place to place without a home of her own, so to speak,
for much too long.

What news is there now from her? Is Mark satisfied with
his job? Does Mitya earn anything, and is he thinking of visiting you? I hope you are keeping well, my dear.

As for us, we are going on as usual and do nothing exciting. The weather is warm, similar to our August weather;
even in a summer coat it is hot (of course people are von unten warm angezogen , [1] in the jerseys they wear abroad).
I have got fairly well used to the local way of life and am
acquiring a practical command of the language. Y.V. is now well and does not get ill very often. Nadya gets a little
tired, but in general is reasonably well.

Not long ago I received some new Russian books such as Zheleznov’s ( Politicheskaya ekonomiya ) but have had no
time to read them. I was not very pleased with them when
I glanced through them. I read mostly Moscow, newspapers—
still the same old thing. I see the local papers in readingrooms.

How are you keeping, in general, this winter?

I embrace you fondly, my dear, and send very best regards to all.

Yours,

V. Ulyanov

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Notes:
[1]
Warmly dressed underneath (Ger.)— Ed .

[2]
Lenin’s brother Dmitry was arrested in August 1902 at
Khadzhibei Lagoon near Odessa where he was working as a doctor; he was
accused of “distributing proclamations calling on the peasants
to join the workers’ revolutionary movement”. He was released
three weeks later.