Stalin Facts

He was born to a cobbler and was Georgian.  His name was Sosa. His father became an alcoholic and left the family when he was young. At 7, he contracted small pox, which permanently scarred his face. Then at 10 he attended church school where all the Georgian kids were forced to speak Russian. At 12, two horse drawn carriage accidents permanently damaged his left arm. Then he enrolled in seminary school, where he performed well studying to be a priest. It was a Russian Orthodox school, he was expelled when he missed his final exams and he was unable to pay his tuition fees.

            He loved cinema, especially western films and Charlie Chaplin.

            After he left the seminary, he discovered Vladimir Lenin’s writing and became a Marxists revolutionary. He raised money by robbing banks, ransom kidnappings, and extortion. He also spread propaganda and incited strikes. As a revolutionary, he changed his name to Koba.

            He married his first wife who gave birth to his first son, Yakov. She died of small pox later.

            He was captured and sent to Siberia seven times, but escaped most of these exiles. After escaping so many times he developed the idea that he was invincible and couldn’t be harmed by anyone. Thus, he changed his name to Stalin, meaning man of steel. He used this name as his pen name to publish his poetry as well.

            He was drafted by the Russian army to fight in World War I, but they said he was unfit because of his left arm. Stalin allied himself with Lenin, who considered him an ally and gave him power. Lenin had a stroke and Stalin was the person who told everyone else what he wanted. Lenin said he had rude manners, ambition, and excessive power. Lenin later died of a heart attack. Kirov, who was very popular, was later murdered and Stalin blamed internal enemies and began a “purging”. He executed all of his competitors for power and anyone who stood in his way saying they were the internal enemy. He then had total power.