Josef Stalin

Josef Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин) (December 18, 1878- March 5, 1953) was a Bolshevik revolutionary who fought in the October Revolution and was dictator of the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He used brute force to industrialize the Soviet Union.

He was born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili (იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე ჯუღაშვილი in the Georgian alphabet). He was raised in the Georgian Orthodox Church, and attended seminary for some time, but was expelled, and abandoned the religion of his upbringing in favor of Marxism.