Joseph Stalin

portrait of Joseph Stalin on a Hungarian postage stamp printed c. the 1950s, photo by chrisd2105/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili

Date of Birth: 18 December, 1878

Place of Birth: Gori, Tiflis Governorate, Caucasus Viceroyalty, Russian Empire (now Georgia)

Date of Death: 5 March, 1953

Place of Death: Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia)

Ethnicity: Georgian, possibly some Ossetian

Joseph Stalin was a Georgian-born Soviet revolutionary, politician, and dictator. He led the Soviet Union for approximately three decades. He was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, from 3 April, 1922 to 16 October, 1952, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, from 6 May, 1941 to 5 March, 1953, his death; as well as, People’s Commissar for Nationalities of the Russian SFSR, from 8 November, 1917 to 7 July, 1923, and Minister of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, from 19 July, 1941 to 3 March, 1947. He was Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 1939 and 1942.

Joseph was the son of Keke Geladze (born Ekaterine/Jekaterina Giorgis asuli Geladze) and Besarion/Visarion Ivanes dze Jughashvili/Džiugašvili, a shoemaker, who owned a workshop. His father was born in Didi Lilo, Tiflis Governorate. His mother was born in Gambareuli, Gori, Tiflis Governorate, Caucasus Viceroyalty.

He was married to Kato Svanidze (Ekaterine Svanidze), until her death, and then to Nadezhda Alliluyeva (Nadezhda Sergeyevna Alliluyeva), until her death. Kato was from Baji, Kutais Governorate. Nadezhda was from Baku, Baku Governorate, Caucasus Viceroyalty. Joseph had a son, Yakov Dzhugashvili, with Kato; two children, Vasily Stalin and Svetlana Alliluyeva, with Nadezhda; and an adopted son, military general Artyom Sergeyev. Yakov was captured during WWII, and died at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, in Oranienburg, Nazi Germany, in 1943; after Joseph refused to make a deal for his release. Joseph was the grandfather of theatre and film director Alexander Burdonsky, who was Vasily’s son; and of cardiologist Joseph Alliluyev, who was Svetlana’s son.

Joseph’s paternal grandfather was named Ivan Vano Jughashvili (the son of Zaza Vissarionovich Jughashvili/Dzhugashvili). Zaza was the son of Vissarion Dzhugashvili, and was involved in the 1804 Mtiuleti rebellion against the Russian Empire. He was a serf for Prince Badur Machabeli. It is thought that Joseph’s grandfather Ivan was of at least partly Ossetian descent. The poem “Stalin Epigram” by Russian poet Osip Mandelstam is thought by some, including British historian Robert Service, to perhaps reference Joseph’s Ossetian ancestry in the last line. The line goes, depending on the translation, “and Ossetian torso is wide” or “for the broad-chested Ossete.” It is also said that Joseph’s surname, Jughashvili, is of Ossetian origin, only with the Georgian suffix shvili added, since Jugayev is a common Ossetian surname, and many Ossetian surnames were written with Georgian suffixes before the Revolution. Joseph’s birthtown, Gori, is not far from the border with the disputed territory South Ossetia, where the Ossetians live.

Joseph’s maternal grandfather was named Giorgi/Glakha Geladze. Giorgi was a bricklayer or potter, and was a serf belonging to Prince Ivane Amilakhvari.

Joseph’s maternal grandmother was named Melania/Melanija Khomezurashvili/Chomezurashvili/Home Zurashvili.

There have been some claims that Joseph was of partly Jewish descent. These derive mostly from anti-Jewish websites and sources that state that Joseph’s surname, Jughashvili, means “Jew-son” or “son of a Jew” in Georgian. Shvili does mean “son” or “child,” but the Georgian word for “Jew” is “Ebraeli,” not “Jugha.” No evidence has been produced that Joseph had Jewish ancestry, and the claim is unlikely.

Source: Genealogy of Joseph Stalin – http://www.geni.com