Early Life
Joseph Stalin was born under the name Iosif Vissarionovich Djugashvili on December 21st, 1879 in Gori, Georgia. He was the third child of Keke Geladze and Bersarion Dzhugashvili and was the only child to survive past infancy. When Joseph was a young, his father was a heavy drinker and abuser and eventually had to leave his family when Joseph was five. Once he left, Joseph and his mother lived in the home of a priest. His mother made sure that Joseph was well educated so he wouldn't be stuck in the lower class for his whole life. When Joseph was young, he only knew how to speak Georgian. He started to learn to speak Russian at the age of nine. In school, Joseph had excellent grades and he even sang in the school choir. He loved to read adventure novels and spent most of his time outside. At the age of seven, Joseph contracted small pox. He survived, but his face was scarred forever and the kids at school called him "Pocky". |