( CNN ) -- The body of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will rest in a glass case on public display . Forever . At least , so said his deputy , Nicolas Maduro . While the idea may seem alien to some , Chavez will be the latest in a line of leaders whose remains have been embalmed and put on show in a glass casket . Perhaps the best known is Russia 's Vladimir Lenin , whose body still lies in a mausoleum in Moscow 's Red Square , nearly 90 years after his death . Others include Stalin , China 's Mao Zedong , Vietnam 's Ho Chi Minh , and North Korea 's founding leader , Kim Il Sung . U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was also embalmed following his assassination in 1865 , enabling his body to be taken on its winding , three-week train journey back to Springfield , Illinois , with open-casket memorial services along the way . For Nina Tumarkin , author of `` Lenin Lives ! The Lenin Cult in Soviet Russia , '' the decision to embalm Lenin in 1924 -- the first modern leader to have his corpse preserved in this way -- was a reflection of a tumultuous period in early Soviet history . Chavez 's impact lauded at funeral . `` Many people feared that the regime could not survive his death , so after the announcement was made , Moscow became something of an armed camp , '' said Tumarkin , a professor of Russian history at Wellesley College , Massachusetts . The leaders were unsure whether to hold a lying-in-state period , for fear that the people would not come , she said . As it turned out , some 750,000 braved the bitter January cold , standing in line for long hours to catch a glimpse of the corpse . As a result , the leaders decided to make it a `` going concern , '' she said , extending the period first to 40 days , the period in the Russian Orthodox tradition when Mass is said daily for the dead , and then installing his glass sarcophagus . They first placed it in a wooden mausoleum before building the stone one that stands today . Nine decades later and half a world away , crowds of Venezuelans similarly lined up to see Chavez 's body as it lay in state at a military academy before the funeral Friday . So many came to see the body that the viewing was extended for another seven days . Giving details of his funeral , Maduro said Chavez would be embalmed `` just like Lenin ( and ) Mao Zedong '' and laid to rest at a military museum where generations of Venezuelans will be able to visit a man who for many was larger-than-life . Polarizing move . In Lenin 's case , the decision was -- and is still -- controversial . Even at the time of the communist leader 's death , many Russians were outraged by the idea of embalming him , Tumarkin said . Many more today would like to see the body buried . But the polarizing move came against the backdrop of the discovery 15 months earlier of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen 's tomb . `` It took the imagination of the world by storm , '' Tumarkin said , and it sowed the idea that the body of a leader could be preserved for thousands of years to come . It also tapped into a Russian Orthodox belief that the body of a true saint does not decay , she said . `` Most important from a political point of view , the leaders who followed Lenin at the time , or who would be competing for the mantle of general secretary of the party , were men who were really terrified that the whole system was going to come falling down , '' she said . That fear had already prompted them to begin the process of `` making Lenin eternal '' through his writings and portraits . With his extended lying in state , the Russian people also had a kind of shrine to visit , Tumarkin said , again channeling the religious tradition . When Lenin 's body was put on display , the embalmers compared their work to that of the ancient Egyptians -- who actually had used very different methods -- and the message sent out to the rest of the world was that this should be seen as a demonstration of superior Soviet science , she said . At the same time , Lenin 's symbolic presence lent the next generation of leaders an extra legitimacy , she said . And as the cult of Lenin swelled in the 1920s and 1930s , and was revived decades later , his body could still be viewed , Tumarkin noted . Other Communist leaders , such as Mao , followed his lead in later decades . Civil War practice . In some countries , for example the Philippines and the United States , embalming ahead of open-casket funerals is now quite common . But the process is still regarded with suspicion or revulsion by many , perhaps linked to a wider discomfort with the idea of death . According to the American Society of Embalmers , modern-day embalming took off in the United States during the Civil War , when families would travel to the battlefields to find their dead sons or brothers . `` The Union Army had 'Embalming Surgeons ' in the battlefield that would prepare the remains , place them in a coffin and send back to the family by train or horse and buggy , '' the society 's website says . So what 's involved in the embalming process today ? First , the body fluids must be drained and replaced with a formaldehyde-based product , said Richard Arnold , managing director of the Embalmer Training School in Britain and a qualified embalmer for 20 years . The formaldehyde-based fluid plasticizes the proteins within the body and fights against the bacteria that otherwise would lead to its decomposition , he said . In cases where the body is expected to remain embalmed for a long period -- rather than for a few weeks or months , as can happen if a funeral is delayed -- the concentration of formaldehyde will be increased . Other chemicals , such as lanolin , can be added to the mix to improve the color and texture of the skin , help break down blood clots or lessen discoloration . Then comes the process of making the deceased look as realistic and , for the sake of the family , as peaceful as possible , Arnold said . `` We do everything from reconstructive surgery to cosmetics and hairdressing . '' The cosmetics used in embalming have higher levels of pigment and silicone , he explained , so that when the body is moved in and out of cold storage the cosmetics will expand and contract with the tissue beneath without cracking . Each embalmer works with individual artistry , he said , with many around the world creating their own mixes of chemicals to achieve the best results in local conditions . This could be important in Venezuela , where the weather is tropical and power supplies sometimes erratic . And if a body is going to be displayed for a long time , it 's crucial to get it right . The body of Klement Gottwald , president of then-Czechoslovakia , was embalmed and placed in a mausoleum for display by Communist Party leaders in 1953 . But it was taken off display several years later , in part because , it is said , it had begun to decompose . World leaders aside , Arnold believes embalming is an overlooked and undervalued art that helps regular people if someone dies far from home or must be laid to rest after a delay . Particularly for families who 've lost a relative in sudden or tragic circumstances , it 's important to see the loved one looking their best at the last , he adds . `` I 've always enjoyed the job , '' he said . `` It 's the last thing you can ever do for anybody . '' 'Magic has gone ' But even with the best of skill , an embalmed body will eventually start to look more waxy or plasticky -- as has been remarked of Lenin 's face during his long repose . It reportedly is under a high-maintenance regime that involves the frequent reapplication of embalming fluids . Despite this , Lenin is no longer looking as good as he used to , said Tumarkin , who has viewed him several times over the decades in the gloom of his 1920s-style mausoleum , decorated in red , black and white . It used to make an impression in the Soviet period , when the long lines of visitors leading up to the sarcophagus created a sense of reverence akin to that of a pilgrimage , she said . But on more recent visits , Tumarkin found much has changed . `` You do n't have that any more . You do n't have the lines ( of people ) any more . You just wander in and it 's like being in a wax museum -- the magic has long since gone . '' It 's perhaps a word of warning that Venezuela 's leaders should heed as they plan for eternity .
Hugo Chavez 's embalmed body is to be placed on display in a glass casket . This follows in a tradition that includes Lenin , Mao Zedong and North Korea 's Kim Il Sung . Lenin historian : `` It 's like being in a wax museum -- the magic has long since gone '' `` It 's the last thing you can ever do for anybody , '' says a UK embalmer of his trade .