Joseph Stalin
Иосиф Сталин (Russian)
იოსებ სტალინი (Georgian)
Joseph-Stalin-PNG.jpg
Portrait of Joseph Stalin used in Soviet posters
General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
In office
3 April 1922 – 16 October 1952
Preceded byVyacheslav Molotov
(as Responsible Secretary)
Succeeded byGeorgy Malenkov (de facto)
Chairman of the Council of
People's Commissars of the Soviet Union
In office
6 May 1941 – 15 March 1946
Preceded byVyacheslav Molotov
Succeeded byHimself(as Chairman of the Council of Ministers)
Chairman of the Council of
Ministers of the Soviet Union
In office
15 March 1946 – 5 March 1953
President
  • Mikhail Kalinin
  • Nikolay Shvernik
First Deputies
  • Nikolai Voznesensky
  • Vyacheslav Molotov
  • Nikolai Bulganin
Preceded byHimself(as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars)
Succeeded byGeorgy Malenkov
Member of the Russian Constituent Assembly
In office
25 November 1917 – 20 January 1918
Served alongsideNikolai Kutler, Pavel Milyukov, Rodichev, Maxim Vinaver, Cherepanov, Evdokimov, Mikhail Kalinin, Józef Unszlicht, Grigory Zinoviev, Boris Kamkov, Shreider
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
ConstituencyPetrograd Metropolis
Minister of Defence
In office
15 March 1946 – 3 March 1947
Preceded byhimself as People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union
Succeeded byNikolai Bulganin
People's Commissar for Nationalities of the RSFSR
In office
8 November 1917 – 7 July 1923
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union
In office
19 July 1941 – 25 February 1946
Preceded bySemyon Timoshenko
Succeeded byhimself as People's Commissar of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union
Personal details
Born
Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili

18 December [O.S. 6] 1878
Gori, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire (now Georgia)
Died5 March 1953(1953-03-05)(aged 74)
Kuntsevo Dacha, Moscow, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Cause of deathCerebral hemorrhage
Resting place
  • Lenin's Mausoleum, Moscow (9 March 1953 – 31 October 1961)
  • Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow (from 31 October 1961)
Political partyRSDLP (1898–1903)
RSDLP (Bolsheviks) (1903–1918)
RCP (Bolsheviks) (1918-1925)
AUCP (Bolsheviks) (1925-1952)
CPSU (1952–1953)
Spouse(s)
Ekaterine Svanidze
(m. 1906;d. 1907)
Nadezhda Alliluyeva
(m. 1919;d. 1932)
Children
  • Yakov Dzhugashvili
  • Vasily Dzhugashvili
  • Svetlana Alliluyeva
  • Artyom Sergeyev (adopted)
Parents
  • Besarion Jughashvili (father)
  • Ekaterine Geladze (mother)
EducationTbilisi Spiritual Seminary
CabinetStalin I–II
ReligionNone (Atheism)
Formerly Georgian Orthodox Christian
Signature
Nickname(s)Koba
Military service
AllegianceSoviet Union
Branch/serviceSoviet Armed Forces
Years of service
  • 1918–1920
  • 1941–1953
Rank
  • Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943)
  • Generalissimus of the Soviet Union (1945)
Commands
  • Southern Front (1918–1920) (commissar)
  • Southwestern Front (1920) (commissar)
  • Soviet Armed Forces (1941–1953) (Supreme Commander)
Battles/wars
  • Russian Civil War
  • Polish-Soviet War
  • Winter War
  • World War II
  • Korean War
AwardsSee here
Central institution membership
  • 1917–1953: Full member, 6th–19th Presidium
  • 1922–1943: 11th–19th Secretariat
  • 1920–1952: 9th–18th Orgburo
  • 1912–1953: Full member, 5th–19th Central Committee

Other offices held
  • 1941–1947: Minister of Defense
  • 1941–1945: Chairman, State Defense Committee
  • 1920–1922: Chairman, Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate of the Russian SFSR
  • 1917–1922: People's Commissar, Nationalities of the Russian SFSR
Leader of the Soviet Union
  • Lenin
  • Malenkov