In the first edition of the pamphlet "Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution" Lenin made an error. He took Born's real surname, Buttermilch, for a nickname. B. Koltsov devoted an entire feuilleton in Iskra of August 26 (43) to this insignificant error, under the title "How Lenin Deepened Engels." In the 1908 edition of the pamphlet (Works, Vol. VIII, p. 426), Lenin acknowledged his error and ridiculed Koltsov. Evidently in connection with this incident, Lenin collected a considerable part of the biographical information on Born available in the literature. Documents b, c and d printed below contain biographical notes on Born, while the appendix, excerpts from a letter from O. G. Lifshits in Berlin, signed by her as Gnedich, touches, among other things, on the same question.

a.

* EXCERPTS AND NOTES ON THE BOOK "ERINNERUNGEN EINES ACHTUNDVIERZIGERS VON STEPHAN BORN. DRITTE AUFLAGE. LEIPZIG. 1898" ("MEMOIRS OF A FORTY-EIGHTER BY STEPHAN BORN. THIRD EDITION. LEIPZIG. 1898").

S.* 32. B[orn] had two older brothers. Of these, the younger was a doctor in the provinces, the elder lived in Berlin. The elder's profession?

43 u. ff.** Friendship (very close) with Engels.

51. B[orn] was never a Knecht einer Parteipolitik.***

Vulgarities against equality, equal rights, in the b[ourgeois]-dem[ocratic] spirit. People, he says, are not equal, etc. E[ngels], he says, was a rich b[ourgeois] son.

63-64. B[orn] in Switzerland (1847) wrote and typeset himself a pamphlet (he even forgot its title) in defence of communism against Karl Heinzen.

S. 67: Marx complimented him on this pamphlet.

* page. Ed.

** and the following. Ed.

*** slave of party politics. Ed.

Later B[orn] doubted the truth of communism: vulgarities (S. 65) about the "mechanical" understanding of history, i.e., the materialist understanding of history, etc.

S. 66: against the abolition of private property: "human nature", he says, rebelled and would answer with a "terrible revolution".

110 u. ff. The most vulgar criticism of the dem[ocratic] p[ar]ty in 1848: against the struggle for a republic, the war with Russia is madness, etc.

146 ff. Polemic with E[ngels]. E[ngels], he says, was angry that I acted without asking "papa".

147: grateful to Mehring for defending him against E[ngels]!!!

151. Born, as a liberal, reasons about the abolition of private property.

152. E[ngels] has "Unklarheit"* - false predictions.

153. Hospitals, "communal cheese dairies", etc., will not yet abolish private property.

-- Many S[ocial] D[emocrats] hold this opinion.

154: S. d. werden schrittweise aus Sozialrevolutionären zu Sozialreformern.**

165-166: Programme of the W[orkers'] U[nion] of 1848. In first place, cooperative societies, etc. Born's defence of this programme ruins it.

idem*** 168

180: Detailed analysis of Verbrüderung in Georg Adler, Geschichte der ersten sozialpolitischen Bewegung. Breslau. 1885.****1

196: gehässige Worte von Engels gegen Born.*****1

201: Born participates in a government commission of elected representatives from industry.

b.

In the catalogue of the British Museum. Born, Stephan (a number of items, among others):

* "unclarity". Ed.

** Social Democrats will gradually turn from social revolutionaries into social reformers. Ed.

*** idem. Ed.

**** brotherhood in Georg Adler, History of the First Social-Political Movement. Ed.

***** hostile words by Engels against Born. Ed.

See Schwitzerland. Oeffentliche Vorträge gehalten in der Schweiz (Bd. 3, 6, 7, 9) und herausgegeben unter gefälliger Mitwirkung der Herrn E. Desor... Z. Hirzel... G. Kinkel... A. Müller und L. Pütimeyer. Basel. 1871. in progression.

Temme (Jodocus, Deodatus, Hubertus). Erinnerungen... Herausgegeben von St. Born. Leipzig. 1883.*

c.

Biographisches Jahrbuch und Deutscher Nekrolog, herausgegeben von Anton Bettelheim. Bd. V (Brl. 1903). S. 11.** Berlin (Georg Reimer).

Born, Stephan. Dr. phil., Professor of modern literary history at the University of Basel, editor; Lissa. 28.XII.24; died Basel 4.V. - B. J. III, 62; Brümmer 1,5,*** 487; Kl. 20, 139 (mit W); Pädag. Archiv 1898, 682 (E. Hermann); Kukula 73. Suppl. 28 (W); Hinrichsen2 *** 163.****

This volume (V) contains a biography of W. Liebknecht (by Ad. Braun).

d.

Bibliothèque universelle et revue Suisse. Vol. XI. 1898.

p. 647: brief notes on the deceased (2-3 lines). Among others: "Stephan Born, le doyen de la presse suisse, esprit fin et orné, bienveillant et pénétrant, qui rédigeait avec une rare distinction le bulletin politique des Basler Nachrichten, après avoir consumé à Neuchâtel de longues années, qui eussent pu être fécondes les (?) pour lettres, dans le pénible et ingrat labeur de l'enseignement".

This is from Chronique suisse, September 1898.*

There is a small biography in La Semaine littéraire (1898) with a portrait. Born died on May 5, 1898. Not a word about the pseudonym.

There is also a biography with a portrait in Die Schweiz 1898, Beilage, Seite 13, but it is not available in the S. de l. library.

* Schwitzerland. Public lectures delivered in Switzerland (vols. 3, 6, 7, 9) and published with the kind cooperation of Messrs. E. Desor... L. Hirzel... G. Kinkel... A. Müller and Rütimeyer. Basel. 1871 - continuing.

Temme. Reminiscences... edited by St. Born. Leipzig. 1883. Ed.

** In Vaucher's book (notices biographiques - Professeurs suisses, etc.) [biographical index of Swiss professors, etc. Ed.] there is nothing about Born.

Totenliste. 1898.

*** Conventional symbol of the index. Ed.

**** Biographical Yearbook and Collection of German Obituaries, edited by Anton Bettelheim. Vol. V. (Berlin 1903). P. 11. Berlin (Georg Reimer).

List of deaths for 1898.

Born, Stephan. Dr. Phil. Professor of modern literature at the University of Basel, editor; born in Lissa on December 28, 1824. Died in Basel on May 4, 1898. - Biographical Yearbook III, 62; Brümmer 1/487; Literary Calendar 20, 139 (with indication of Born's works); Pedagogical Archive 1898, 682 (E. Hermann); Kukula, 73, Supplement, 28 (with indication of Born's works); Hinrichsen 163. Ed.

* Stephan Born, the oldest representative of the Swiss press, a refined and polished mind, sympathetic and penetrating, who edited with rare skill the political bulletin of the Basler Nachrichten, after spending long years in Neuchâtel which might have been fruitful for his literary work, in the hard and thankless labor of teaching.

This is from the Swiss chronicle, September 1898. Ed.

1 Adler Georg. Die Geschichte der ersten sozialpolitischen Arbeiterbewegung in Deutschland mit besonderer Rücksicht auf die einwirkenden Theorien. Breslau. 1885. S. S. 347. (Adler Georg. History of the first social-political workers' movement in Germany, with special consideration of the theories influencing it. Breslau. 1885. p. 347.)

2 Vaucher Pierre. Professeurs, historiens et magistrats suisses notices biographiques. Genève, Bâle. 1886. (Vaucher Pierre. Biographical index of Swiss professors, historians and officials. Geneva, Basel. 1886.)

3 E. Brümmer. Lexikon der deutschen Dichter. 5. Aufl. (E. Brümmer. Dictionary of German Poets. 5th ed.)

4 J. Kürschner. Deutscher Literaturkalender. (J. Kürschner. German Literary Calendar.)

5 R. Kukula. Biographisches Jahrbuch der deutschen Hochschulen. Innsbruck 1892. (R. Kukula. Biographical Yearbook of German Higher Schools. Innsbruck. 1892.)

6 Hinrichsen. Das literarische Deutschland. Berlin und Rostock. 1887. (Hinrichsen. Literary Germany. Berlin and Rostock. 1887.)

Appendix 1.

* From a letter by O. G. Lifshits to the editorial board of Proletary.

Dear Comrade!

I have received your letter, as well as Comrade Lenin's letter...

Regarding the information Comrade Lenin asked for, I cannot yet report anything definite; in the Parteiarchiv, Born's Denkwürdigkeiten* have been borrowed and will be returned in a week.

The head of the Parteiarchiv, Comrade Grunwald, does not himself know where Born got his second name, doubts that it was a witticism of Engels's, and supposes that it is his émigré name.

If I find nothing in the Royal Library, I shall write to Mehring....

With comradely greetings, Gnedich

* in the party archive, materials relating to Born. Ed.