Georgian politician and dictator of the Soviet Union, b. 21 December 1879 (Gori, Georgia, Russian Empire), d. 5 March 1953 (Moscow, USSR)
Stalin's original name was Ioseb Dzugashvili. He was born in a small provincial town of Georgia; his father was a cobbler, his mother a washerwoman. He adopted the name Stalin, derived from stal (Russian: steel) after joining the Bolshevik party.
After leaving school Ioseb Dzugashvili was sent to a theological seminary to train for the priesthood. He left theological instruction and became a clerk for a few months but soon joined the poitical underground movement. He proved himself as an efficient organiser of strikes and demonstrations, was arrested seven times and imprisoned or sent into exile on various occasions.
In 1912 Lenin took Stalin into the first Central Committee of the Bolshevik party. Stalin served in various positions and in 1917 became commisar for nationalities in the revolutionary government and commisar for state control in 1919. In 1922 he became Secretary General of the Central Committee, a position that provided him the opportunity to establish absolute personal power.
The most urgent task for any leader of the Soviet Union at Lenin's death in 1924 was rapid industrialization of a country that was just emerging from an agricultural society based on serfdom and aristocratic land ownership. This was all the more pressing when Hitler's anti-communist rule showed threatening signs of eastward expansion. Within one decade, 1928 - 1937, Stalin managed to turn the Soviet Union into a modern industrial state, second in industrial output only to the USA. This achievement enabled the Soviet Union to repel the German occupation and defeat Germany, bringing World War II to its end.
The workforce required for the new industries had to be recruited from the peasant class. This required a significant rise in agricultural productivity. Stalin tried to solve the problem through forced collectivization, with disastrous consequences. Agricultural production fell, partly as a result of active obstruction from landowners, partly because with the standard of Russian agricultural methods collectivization did not offer any advantages. The years following the collectivization in 1928 saw widespread starvation; millions of peasant families died from hunger.
Stalin responded to difficulties, obstruction and mere criticism with ruthless despotism. Staged "trials" and execution of political rivals became more and more frequent. Millions of people, particularly members of national minorities considered untrustworthy, were deported to labour camps or resettled in remote regions. In the end Stalin's regime was one of terror and oppression.
After his death Stalin has been varyingly held in high regard as hero of the Soviet Union, who defeated the German troops and laid the foundations for the USSR as a balancing superpower after World War II, and denounced as a murderous dictator.