Stalin

Early life

Stalin was born on 18 December[O.S. 6 December] 1878 into a Georgian family in Gori, a city in the Tiflis Governorate of the Russian Empire. His birth name was Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili (Russified as Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili). His parents were Besarion Jughashvili and Ekaterine Geladze; Stalin was their third child and the only one to survive past infancy. After Besarion's shoemaking workshop went into decline, the family fell into poverty, and he became an alcoholic who beat Ekaterine and Stalin. The two left the home by 1883, moving through nine different rented rooms. In 1888, Stalin enrolled at the Gori Church School, where he excelled. Stalin faced health problems: an 1884 smallpox infection left him with facial scars, and at age 12, he was seriously injured when he was struck by a phaeton, causing a lifelong disability in his left arm.