World leaders whose bodies have been preserved and put on perpetual display, as Venezuela's government plans to do with Hugo Chavez: ___ VLADIMIR LENIN: Body of Soviet Union's founder has been displayed since January 1924 in a mausoleum at Red Square. His tomb is one of Moscow's most famous symbols and Communists consider it almost a shrine. The embalmment for display is considered the model for subsequent Communist world leaders put on exhibit. ___ JOSEF STALIN: Soviet dictator's embalmed body was put on display next to Lenin on March 9, 1953. Soviet authorities ordered it removed from the tomb Oct. 31, 1961, and had it buried during a period of "de-Stalinization." ___ HO CHI MINH: Corpse of the Vietnamese revolutionary leader was put on display on Aug. 29, 1975. It rests in a glass sarcophagus in the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi and is a popular destination for tourists. ___ Continued... |