Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov
Founder of Communism in Russia. Remebered in the West mostly through the propagana of Stalin and later dictators, and as being not quite as bad as Stalin. Instigated the Red Terror (mass executions and deportations of suspected Whites during the Civil War, often by
quota), and expanded the Tsarist political prison camp system into
the GULAG which served Stalin so well. Made selling things an imprisonable offence (the crime of "speculation"), as well as expanding the definitions of punishable "political crimes", which often had worse punishment than real crimes. Laid the foundations for
Stalin's work. Hero worshipped by young Western socialists who, if they had actually read anything that he wrote, would realise that he was an utterly
barking moonbat.
Example:
Lenin said "The greatest threat to our revolution is ... the shopkeepers" (in response to inflated prices for goods in towns caused by the Red Army
pillaging the countryside, killing peasants and confiscating their produce... all for "The People", you know!)