Vladimir Lenin
Lenin began studying politics in high school. In 1886, the year that Lenin was doing his final gymnasium exams, his father died, his brother Alexander was hanged for his part in a bomb plot to kill Tsar Alexander III, and their sister Anna was sent to Tatarstan. This made Lenin furious, and he promised to get revenge for his brother's death. The family drama didn't stop Lenin from completing the exams with high results: he got the second-highest grade in his class.