Josef Stalin

Joseph Stalin
Иосиф Сталин (Russian) იოსებ სტალინი (Georgian)
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
In office 3 April 1922 – 16 October 1952
Preceded by	Vyacheslav Molotov (as Responsible Secretary)
Succeeded by	Nikita Khrushchev (as First Secretary)
Chairman of the Council of Ministers
In office 6 May 1941 – 5 March 1953
First Deputies	Nikolai Voznesensky Vyacheslav Molotov Nikolai Bulganin
Preceded by	Vyacheslav Molotov
Succeeded by	Georgy Malenkov
Personal details
Born	Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili (1878-12-18)18 December 1878 Gori, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	5 March 1953(1953-03-05) (aged 74) Kuntsevo Dacha, Kuntsevo, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Resting place	Lenin's Mausoleum, Moscow (9 March 1953 – 31 October 1961) Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow (from 31 October 1961)
Nationality	Soviet, Georgian
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Spouse(s)	Ekaterina Svanidze (1906–07) Nadezhda Alliluyeva (1919–32)
Children	Yakov Dzhugashvili Vasily Dzhugashvili Svetlana Alliluyeva
Parents	Besarion Jughashvili and Ketevan Geladze
Religion	Formerly Georgian Orthodox
Signature
Military service
Nickname(s)	Koba
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Soviet Armed Forces
Years of service	1943–53
Rank	Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943–45) Generalissimus of the Soviet Union (1945–53)
Commands	All (supreme commander)
Battles/wars	World War II
Central institution membership 1917–53: Full member, 6th–19th Presidium 1922–43: 11th–19th Secretariat 1920–52: 9th–18th Orgburo 1912–53: Full member, 5th–19th Central Committee Other offices held 1941–47: Minister of Defense 1941–45: Chairman, State Defense Committee 1920–22: Chairman, Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate of the Russian SFSR 1917–22: People's Commissar, Nationalities of the Russian SFSR Leader of the Soviet Union ← Lenin Khrushchev →

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (/ˈstɑːlɪn/; 18 December 1878 – 5 March 1953) was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. Holding the post of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he was effectively the dictator of the state.

Stalin was one of the seven members of the first Politburo, founded in 1917 in order to manage the Bolshevik Revolution, alongside Lenin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky, Sokolnikov, and Bubnov. Among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917, Stalin was appointed General Secretary of the party's Central Committee in 1922. He managed to consolidate power following the 1924 death of Vladimir Lenin by suppressing Lenin's criticisms (in the postscript of his testament) and expanding the functions of his role, all the while eliminating any opposition. He remained General Secretary until the post was abolished in 1952, concurrently serving as the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1941 onward.