The mystery of embalming the heads of state

In order to embalm the leader Lenin and the late Kim Nhat Thanh, the experts took all the organs in the body, destroyed the veins and removed all the blood from the tissues.

Soviet leader Lenin

Vladimir Ilich Ulianov, famous for his alias Lenin, took his last breath, after nearly two years of pain and stroke at 6: 50 pm on April 21, 1924. Immediately, the official Russian authorities met to discuss Lenin's corpse problem. Traditionally, Lenin's corpse was temporarily marinated for preservation during the funeral week before burial, but Stalin decided to embalm the body for a long time. The signs of decomposition have appeared on Lenin's body, but after nearly 5 weeks, on March 13, 1924, the Russian Politburo made a decision "to preserve Lenin's corpse by low temperature". .

But the cold only makes the condition of the body worse. The usual method of embalming, used by Professor Abricosov for temporary preservation of the corpse (6 liters of alcoholic aortic, phosphorus, and glycerin injection) has no effect. Finally, Stalin and Dgierginxki agreed to carry out a long-term embalming according to Vorobiev's method. Accordingly, the Lenin corpse is opened, all internal organs are removed. After that, the teachers washed the chest with distilled water. The face, hands and the entire surface of the skin are covered with a wet, impregnated towel. This process lasts 4 months.

To be more effective, the professors were allowed by the party, slotting the belly, shoulders, legs, back and palms of the body of the leader to infiltrate the embalmed oil and permeate the entire body. After that, they released Lenin into a rubber tank filled with secret alcohol.

Professor Ilia Zbarxki, who maintains the Lenin corpse, explains: "In the composition of the solution there is glycerin, potassium acetate and chlorine quinine. This formula was introduced by Manicov Razvedencov in the nineteenth century. Each We used a towel to absorb the liquid on the face and the hands of the mummy ".

Every year, Lang Len closed for a month and a half to soak the corpse in solution and soak it with chemical preparations.

Chinese President Mao Zedong

On September 9, 1976, Chairman of the People's Democratic Republic of China Mao Zedong died. That evening, the Chinese Politburo held an emergency meeting, determined to preserve his body so that everyone could visit. They set a time of 15 days.

At the time, Chairman Mao Zedong was the one who initiated the cremation policy and was the first Chinese leader to sign a written proposal to cremate the body after death. Therefore, the initial storage time is set to be 15 days to conduct visits and retrospective activities. However, during the period of conducting tragic activities, on September 10, the Party Central Committee headed by United Guofeng decided to preserve the body of President Mao Zedong for a long time, building a tomb for the next generation. see his legacy.

This is a big problem for health workers. Usually after the leaders die for 2 hours, their bodies must have surgery, remove organs, use chemicals to clean up all blood vessels in the body, then soak them in the cheese and some other chemicals. to embalm. Meanwhile, the body of President Mao Zedong at first only handled simply, not to wash blood vessels, and now following the normal procedure is no longer possible.

Finally, the decision is made to choose the method of the Beijing scientists: a combination of preservation and soaking solution with gas storage. The parts of the skin that need to be exposed to the outside such as the head and the hands should be preserved by gas, the rest of the body without exposing it should be soaked in liquid. In addition, they must apply a combination of other preservation measures such as physics and optics. In short, it is a combination of very complex measures.

When the Memorial House opens its doors for people to visit, the body is placed in a position that one can observe but does not pour water into the coffin. After closing the door, the corpse was brought down again in an underground tank. In addition, every year after Chairman Mao Zedong's birthday, December 26, the Memorial House is closed so that the technical staff soak the body in the solution for a long time, adding the lost water. .

Korean President Kim Nhat Thanh

The late President Kim Il Sung was embalmed by Russian experts after his death in 1994. Currently his body is placed in the Kumsusan Memorial Palace.

In an interview in the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, Pavel Fomenko, who came to Korea to support the embalming of President Kim Il Sung, clarified the process of mummification.

"Usually three to six experts take part in mummies. Special cases can have up to seven experts. First, all organs are removed, vein is canceled and blood is taken. The body is placed in a glass basin filled with marinated solution, then closed and covered with a white cloth.The exact conditions of temperature and humidity are maintained. in the room containing the corpse, "he said.

Gradually, the water in the body's cells will be replaced by the embalming solution. This process takes about 6 months. Fomenko said, the Korean government has spent millions of dollars to embalm and maintain the body of President Kim Il Sung.

Former Korean leader Kim Jong-il

Kim Jong-il's corpse at Kumsusan Memorial Palace
in Pyongyang during national mourning days. (Photo: AFP)

Kim Jong-il died on December 17, 2011 due to a heart attack while on a train. Hundreds of thousands of Koreans flock to the streets of Pyongyang, crying miserably during the snowy weather, when the convoy carrying Kim Jong-il's body passes through the capital streets.

A year after his death, Pyongyang revealed the preserved corpse of the late leader Kim Jong-il, still in the famous khaki costume. Mr. Kim is under his father, Kim Il Sung, a few floors of the Kumsusan Memorial Palace. That place used to be the office of President Kim Nhat Thanh. Kim Jong-il's corpse was covered with a red blanket, with the light shining on his face, in the room filled with red.