Top 10 Interesting Facts About Joseph Stalin That You Don’t Know

Joseph Stalin was the person responsible for the Soviet Union’s transformation into a global superpower at an immeasurable human cost. In a destitute Georgian hamlet, Stalin was born into a chaotic family in 1879. Being permanently scarred from a smallpox infection as a child and having a mildly malformed arm, Stalin always felt that life had been unfair to him. As a result, he developed a strong, romanticised desire for greatness and respect along with a cunning streak of cold-hearted calculation towards those who had wronged him. Before learned intellectuals, he had a constant sensation of inferiority and had a deep mistrust for them.

Stalin was born into poverty towards the end of the 19th century. After rising through the ranks of the Communist Party to the level of general secretary, he took over as the party’s new leader after Vladimir Lenin passed away. He then used his illustrious Red Army to defeat the Nazis after hastily bringing Russia into the modern era through rapid industrialization that unintentionally resulted in a famine that killed millions of people.

In addition, Stalin is regarded as one of the most perilous totalitarian leaders in history, and Adolf Hitler’s violent excesses are frequently made in comparison to Stalin’s. Here are some of the interesting and lesser known facts about Joseph Stalin that might intrigue you,

1. Joseph Stalin deliberately changed his birth date

Stalin was born during the end of the 19th century, as was already mentioned. He was born on December 18, 1878, according to official Russian documents. Stalin’s birthdate is shown as the sixth day of December on an Old Style Julian Calendar that was in use at the time. In an effort to mislead the Tsarist Officers, Stalin himself also changed his birthdate, changing the day to the 21st of December and the year to 1881.

2. Joseph Stalin changed his original name

It was mentioned that Joseph Stalin’s full name was Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili. He eventually adopted the surname “Stalin” after changing the spelling of his first name. Although “Stalin” in the original Russian means “man of steel,” he was far from Superman.

3. Joseph Stalin used Photoshop before it became a trend

Joseph Stalin was adept at managing his own image through creative photo editing before airbrushing models onto the covers of Vogue and Cosmopolitan. Stalin had smallpox as a child, which left him with facial scars. He would ask for changes to be made when all of his photos were being processed because he was embarrassed by these scars. Additionally, it was said that he would have portrait photographers shot for portraying him negatively.

4. Joseph Stalin was physically assaulted while he was a child

When Stalin was twelve years old, he sadly died after being hit by a horse-drawn carriage. His early years were not the easiest because his father beat him often when he was little. Because of the extensive surgery required to treat his arm after the accident, his left arm is now noticeably shorter than his right. His accident saved his life in the end. Stalin was deemed unfit for military service, so he was not sent to the front lines, where he undoubtedly would have died alongside so many other Russians.

5. Stalin was a great weatherman

History has forgotten one of Stalin’s less horrific triumphs. Joseph Stalin formerly held a position as a weatherman. He worked for the Tiflis Meteorological Observatory, which served much of Russia with weather reports. He was primarily in charge of recording data such as precipitation and atmospheric pressure.

6. Joseph Stalin received a Nobel Peace prize

Stalin won the Nobel Peace Prize twice. To be fair, his nominations were made before the West was fully informed of the extent of his brutal policies and murders. He was included on the shortlist in 1945 and 1948 as a result of his contribution to the end of the Second World War.

7. Joseph Stalin’s son died a tragic death in Mazi Germany

“Tough love” was a concept that Joseph Stalin took extremely seriously. Yakov, the son of Stalin, was captured by the Nazis during World War II, and when Hilter realised who he had captured, he made an absurd ransom demand. Yakov’s release was nearly always demanded, but Stalin adamantly refused to give in to any of the requests. Yakov would eventually pass away in jail.

8. Joseph Stalin was not a Russian

Yes, you read that right. Joseph Stalin wasn’t even Russian, despite being one of Russia’s most well-known politicians and the person most responsible for the development of the nation over the past century. Georgia, a neighbour of Russia, is where he was born. His mother never departed from that nation.

9. In his youth, Joseph Stalin was a critically acclaimed poet

Young Soso was a gifted student who entered the Tiflis Spiritual Seminary with a scholarship in 1894. He excelled in everything from math to Church Slavonic singing. He also tried his hand at poetry at this time, producing a total of 6 poems under the pen name Soselo, which were eventually printed in children’s books and newspapers. However, Soso’s political ambitions quickly supplanted them, and by the time he graduated from the seminary, he had also lost interest in writing.

10. Joseph Stalin has to dress like a woman once in order to escape

Stalin is frequently reported to have been exiled six times in the years leading up to the February Revolution of 1917, while there is disagreement over the precise number due to Stalin’s secrecy. However, the imperial penal system wasn’t nearly as severe as it was under Stalin, and he was able to escape almost every time, including an especially intriguing incident in 1909 when he fled from Solvychegodsk dressed as a woman. Similar circumstances befell Lenin in 1917, when he was compelled to shave and don a wig in order to flee to Finland and avoid punishment.