BajaNomad

Leon Trotsky

BajaBlanca - 10-12-2016 at 07:22 AM

Yesterday, I decided to go off the beaten track (which is so me) and visit the Leon Trotsky Museum which includes his house. I overheard a guide saying that the descendants who still live in Mexico run the museum now in his memory.

What a crazy life he led and he sure paid a high price, absolutely every single family member suffered either with concentration camp sentences or were sent to Siberia or died of depression due to the tragic life.







Picture 17 follows this blurb:













Trotsky allegedly had an affair with Frida Kahlo and her house was only 3 blocks away. The difference between the two houses could not be more stark. His house had no color except the gorgeous garden outside. Nothing on the walls, the museum states that everything is placed exactly as it was when he lived there with wife Natalya.


This was taken at a news report done in Kahlo's garden:








Trotsky was buried in his garden and his wife who died 20 years later was returned from Russia and buried beside him:









Pictures of the house - I am short and had to duck to get in! Tiny doorway!















His desk - his personal library had many books in many different languages - French, Russian, English and Spanish.













John Lennon looked like him:














It was a really interesting trip looking around. A glimpse into a revolutionaries life.

DENNIS - 10-12-2016 at 07:32 AM


Stalin showed his disapproval of Ol' Leon by having a pick-ax stuck in his head.

Udo - 10-12-2016 at 08:52 AM

Very historic visit, Blanca!

BajaBlanca - 10-12-2016 at 09:14 AM

he did indeed have a pick axe stuck in his head and the murderer got 20 years jail time.

It was an historic visit and another Mexico City destination off the bucket list. Next time I want to visit Diego Rivera's Museum. When you enter Kahlo's - you are given a free entrance to Rivera's as well.

For those of you who are citizens (not sure of the rest of you with tourist visas or permanent residents) the fee was $15 to Trotskys and free to take pictures. Kahlo's was free to get in and60 pesos to take pictures. You only need to take you INAPAM card (over 60) toget in free or almost free in museums about town.

Mexitron - 10-12-2016 at 10:40 AM

Interesting! Thanks for the pics.

Skipjack Joe - 10-12-2016 at 11:03 AM

He was killed with an ice pick, not a pick axe. Blows struck to the head.

IMG_2156.JPG - 6kB

[Edited on 10-12-2016 by Skipjack Joe]

DENNIS - 10-12-2016 at 12:37 PM


Reports I read said, "pick-ax." I doubt it's important at this 'point.'

bajaguy - 10-12-2016 at 01:11 PM

Maybe a compromise.........

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/trotsky-assassina...

DENNIS - 10-12-2016 at 01:24 PM



Yeah...I'll buy that.

Skipjack Joe - 10-12-2016 at 01:32 PM

You were right Dennis. Below is the actual weapon. Looks like an alpinist ice axe. They're trying to auction it off.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-07-11-trotsky...

IMG_2157.JPG - 17kB

[Edited on 10-12-2016 by Skipjack Joe]

Skipjack Joe - 10-12-2016 at 01:36 PM

Isn't history fun? This is so much better than talking about Trump's interest in cats.

DENNIS - 10-12-2016 at 01:36 PM




OUCH....That'll leave a nasty bruise.
Thanks, Igor.

Skipjack Joe - 10-12-2016 at 03:04 PM

Yep. He still wears the scars from that encounter.

BajaBlanca - 10-13-2016 at 06:58 AM

Glad we got that cleared up!

DENNIS - 10-13-2016 at 08:24 AM


Yeah...big relief. From that fateful day on, this was Ol' Leons theme song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YprzkLnVXs

durrelllrobert - 10-13-2016 at 09:22 AM

Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  

Reports I read said, "pick-ax." I doubt it's important at this 'point.'


Wrong guy:"Stalin showed his disapproval by having a pick-ax stuck in his head"

DENNIS - 10-13-2016 at 09:51 AM


My comment didn't say Stalin did it. It said he had it done.
---------------------

http://www.historytoday.com/nigel-jones/stalin%E2%80%99s-nem...

gsbotanico - 10-13-2016 at 12:39 PM

I've toured the Trotsky house. It's like a small fortress with gun turrets. It hasn't been mentioned that the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siquieros was implicated in the plot to kill Trotsky. Siquieros, along with Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco, are the big three in Mexican mural painting. Siquieros' reputation has been tarnished by his membership in the Communist Party and his connection to the assassination. Yes, it was an alpine ice-axe that was the murder weapon.

It's often forgotten that there was a very strong communist influence in the artistic circle in Mexico City during the 1920s and 1930s. I know a man in Ensenada whose parents fled Spain after the Spanish Civil War. He was born in Mexico City. His parents took him to Diego Rivera's house when he was seven. In innocence he asked Diego, "¿Que haces?" (What do you do?) Diego answered, "Soy pintor." (I'm a painter.) He had no idea he was talking to one of Mexico's most famous artists.



[Edited on 10-13-2016 by gsbotanico]

DENNIS - 10-13-2016 at 01:03 PM



Rockefeller didn't much care for the commie illustrator:

http://www.npr.org/2014/03/09/287745199/destroyed-by-rockefe...

gsbotanico - 10-13-2016 at 01:15 PM

Forgot to mention that anyone who goes to Coyoacán to see Trotsky's house and Frida Kahlo's La Casa Azul and is interested in seeing the best collection of Frida's paintings should take the trouble and continue on south to Xochimilco. It's the Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño at the extreme south end of Mexico City and a long taxi ride from the center of Mexico City. There are beautiful gardens and some of the most famous of Frida's paintings.

BajaBlanca - 10-13-2016 at 01:37 PM

Definitely on the list for next Mexico City trip then, along with Diego Rivera's house.

The Rockefeller mishap was very interesting to read about - I had read it before and forgot about it.

DENNIS - 10-13-2016 at 02:58 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca  
Definitely on the list for next Mexico City trip then, along with Diego Rivera's house.

The Rockefeller mishap was very interesting to read about - I had read it before and forgot about it.



I think DRs house was FKs house as well. Man and wife when he wasn't being a womanizing pig.

durrelllrobert - 10-13-2016 at 04:14 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  

My comment didn't say Stalin did it. It said he had it done.
---------------------

http://www.historytoday.com/nigel-jones/stalin%E2%80%99s-nem...

regardless of who actually did what it is Stalin that shoulda had the pick-ax stuck in his skull.

Skipjack Joe - 10-13-2016 at 07:16 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  
Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca  
Definitely on the list for next Mexico City trip then, along with Diego Rivera's house.

The Rockefeller mishap was very interesting to read about - I had read it before and forgot about it.



I think DRs house was FKs house as well. Man and wife when he wasn't being a womanizing pig.


Can we stop talking about Trump all the time.

DENNIS - 10-13-2016 at 07:26 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Skipjack Joe  
Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  
Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca  
Definitely on the list for next Mexico City trip then, along with Diego Rivera's house.

The Rockefeller mishap was very interesting to read about - I had read it before and forgot about it.



I think DRs house was FKs house as well. Man and wife when he wasn't being a womanizing pig.


Can we stop talking about Trump all the time.



Have to....yes. It's painful to imagine The Donny and Frida plaited together in mortal lust. Yep...painful.
Ow Ow Ow....

Skipjack Joe - 10-13-2016 at 07:31 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  


Rockefeller didn't much care for the commie illustrator:

http://www.npr.org/2014/03/09/287745199/destroyed-by-rockefe...


Rockefeller should have put his differences aside and saved this work of art.

And speaking of artists, your favorite songwriter, Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in literature yesterday.


rivera_wall_custom-fb26656fd5f607e7cee05d6d2b79fcb1c807f7a0-s1600-c85.jpg - 152kB

DENNIS - 10-13-2016 at 07:40 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Skipjack Joe  

And speaking of artists, your favorite songwriter, Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in literature yesterday.


A fitting tribute:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c80OYHIcgFc

DENNIS - 10-13-2016 at 07:46 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Skipjack Joe  

Rockefeller should have put his differences aside and saved this work of art.



That's exactly what he did.....put his differences aside

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biograph...



.

[Edited on 10-14-2016 by DENNIS]

BajaBlanca - 10-14-2016 at 07:52 PM

what a mess, for everyone. I wonder what Picasso would have painted? We shall never know.

Skipjack Joe - 10-14-2016 at 09:36 PM

He would have painted Trotsky Descending a Staircase.

BajaBlanca - 10-15-2016 at 07:03 AM

:biggrin: