An unusual Lenin sculptor in the Churchill family.

Clare Sheridan's bust of Lenin.

I suppose the least likely person I'd expect to be a sculptor of a Lenin bust would be a cousin of Winston Churchill, part of a close circle of friends of the Mountbatten's as well as a family friend of Rudyard Kipling and much of the rest of that coterie.

But Clare Sheridan unlike her cousin had always gotten on better with the Bolsheviks than with the fascists (Churchill after the war admitted to his cousin that he had rather liked Mussolini and was sorry that he had to fight him whereas Clare had a strong personal dislike of the fascist dictator, not surprisingly because on a visit to him the fascist dictator had tried to rape her).

Lenin on hearing of her family relationship with the imperialist bulldog was none too impressed but chuckled upon hearing that she was not the only political anomaly in that reactionary family.

Here in any case is a fuller account by her of their meeting:

Sheridan did not meet Lenin until 7th October (1920): "Lenin was sitting at his desk. He rose and came across the room to greet me. He has a genial manner and a kindly smile, which puts one instantly at ease. He said that he had heard of me from Kamenev. I apologised for having to bother him. He laughed and explained that the last sculptor had occupied his room for weeks, and that he got so bored with it that he had sworn that it never should happen again. He asked how long I needed, and offered me today and tomorrow from 11 till 4, and three or four evenings, if I could work by electric light. When I told him I worked quickly and should probably not require so much, he said laughingly that he was pleased."

During the session Lenin expressed his dislike of her cousin Winston Churchill: "I asked if Winston was the most hated Englishman. He shrugged his shoulders, and then added something about Churchill being the man with all the force of the capitalists behind him. We argued about that, but he did not want to hear my opinion, his own being quite unshakeable. He talked about Winston being my cousin, and I said rather apologetically that I could not help it, and informed him that I had another cousin who was a Sinn Feiner. He laughed, and said That must be a cheerful party when you three get together. I suppose it would be cheerful, but we have never all three been together! During these four hours he never smoked, and never even drank a cup of tea. I have never worked so long on end before, and at 3.45 I could hold out no longer. I was blind with weariness and hunger, and said good-bye. He promised to sit on the revolving stand tomorrow. If all goes well, I think I ought to be able to finish him. I do hope it is good. I think it looks more like him than any of the busts I have seen yet. He has a curious Slav face, and looks very ill.

She also produced busts of other Bolsheviks including Trotsky, Dzerzhinsky, Zinoviev and met many of the others. She attended the funeral of John Reed. Apparently, the historian Robert Service believed that she and Trotsky became lovers (she was also said to have been the lover of Kamenev and Charlie Chaplin). 

For the MI5 she soon became a prime suspect as a Soviet secret agent. 

Sheridan admiring her Lenin bust.

By the way, a smaller reproduction of the original is apparently on ebay for a few thousand dollars. Any rich patrons reading this have now been informed as to what they can buy me for Christmas.