Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, Russian, Soviet, And CIS History, Biographies

Related Category: Russian, Soviet, And CIS History, Biographies

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin[stA´lin, Rus. visuryO´nuvich stA´lyin] Pronunciation Key, 1879–1953, Soviet Communist leader and head of the USSR from the death of V. I. Lenin (1924) until his own death, b. Gori, Georgia. His real name was Dzhugashvili (also spelled Dzugashvili or Djugashvili); he adopted the name Stalin ("man of steel") about 1913.