One of the well-known pseudonyms and in Stalin. Why Stalin is Stalin, and why do Bolsheviks need pseudonyms? Unbending and flexible like steel

Everyone knows that Stalin is just one of the pseudonyms of I.V. Dzhugashvili. Many people know that his fellow wrestlers sometimes called him Koba. Were there other aliases? At one time, the whole Institute was engaged in the study of this issue, counting about 30 party nicknames, oral and printed pseudonyms associated with the party activities of Joseph Vissarionovich.

The lifestyle of the revolutionaries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries forced them to change their passports and party nicknames quite often. Such a person escaped from prison or exile, received a fresh (fake) passport - changed his “surname”. Subsequently, the document was simply thrown away, and the surname from it was forgotten. In such a serious matter, they naturally used pseudonyms similar to real surnames (sometimes even these were the surnames of acquaintances).

Nickname of Stalin

For example, Stalin had such an acquaintance from Batumi Nizharadze - his surname became one of the nicknames of the young Joseph. And from exile in Vologda, Stalin generally fled on Chizhikov's real passport. At the IV Party Congress, a certain Ivanovich was registered as a representative from the Tiflis branch of the party - also a working pseudonym Dzhugashvili. However, all these were just small episodes in the life of a Bolshevik who later became a great politician.

Party nickname of Stalin

When choosing nicknames and pseudonyms, Stalin showed particular predilection for two letters of the Russian alphabet - "C" and "K", it was with them that, as a rule, his "names" began. Perhaps this was partly due to his native name Soso. From here came such pseudonyms as Sozeli, Soselo - diminutive. But it is not good for a politician to be little Osenka (this is how these names are roughly translated into Russian). "Kote", "Kato" - the name of the mother as a pseudonym also did not last long. As Stalin grows, a thirst for greatness awakens. That is why Koba became one of his favorite pseudonyms. What is its origin?

There is, for example, such an option. That was the name of the hero of the novel “The Parricide”, written by Alexander Kazbegi, a popular writer in Georgia at that time, a noble robber who was the idol of young Soso. According to V. Pokhlebkin, this pseudonym came from the name of the Persian king Kavad (in another spelling Kobades), who conquered Georgia and made Tbilisi the capital of the country, in Georgian the name of the Persian sounds like Koba. Kavad was known as a supporter of Mazdakism, a movement that promoted early communist views. Traces of interest in Persia and Kavad are found in Stalin's speeches of 1904-07.

Stalin's ideals

Some facts of Stalin's biography (ideals, prison, escape from it with the help of a certain woman) surprisingly coincided with the biography of Joseph Vissarionovich himself. And the fact that it was the name of the tsar, and even the conqueror, could not leave Stalin indifferent due to his ambitiousness. No wonder the word "satraps" was one of Stalin's favorite expressions. However, the pseudonym Koba was suitable only as long as Dzhugashvili's field of activity was Transcaucasia, where people were well acquainted with the local color and history. After entering a wider arena, transferring his aspirations to Russia, the pseudonym Koba became inappropriate, because he ceased to evoke the necessary associations among his party comrades: well, what Russian knew about some kind of Georgian tsar?

Stalin is a pseudonym the best way reflected the inner essence of Koba. The king, shrouded in oriental mysticism and a certain amount of magic, is being replaced by a specific, clear symbol: steel. Briefly, succinctly, unbendingly, simply and inevitably - that's how this word sounds. It is harder than iron, clear and understandable to everyone. In addition, it has a clear indication of the "Russianness" of the owner. Lenin - Stalin - it seems, isn't it? For some time, the initial “K.” reminds of Kobe. in the signature: K. Stalin - this is how the future leader signs since 1913. And it is not surprising that this particular pseudonym later became a surname. After all, it often happened in Russian history: the surname should reflect the inner essence of the owner. "Dzhugashvili" - well, what's great here? Although there is a version that the word "juga" is translated from ancient Georgian as "steel". But this version seems to be unfounded. After all, it was the presence of this very steel in the character of Joseph Vissarionovich that made the heirs of his pseudonym so unhappy, who did not have the necessary firmness.

How did the name "Stalin" come about?

They say that this pseudonym was invented by Stalin himself, who relied only on the fact that the pseudonym should have been:

- sounding in Russian and Russian in design;

- extremely serious, significant, impressive in content, not allowing any interpretations and misunderstandings;

- it had to have a deep meaning, and at the same time not be particularly conspicuous, not have an effect, be calm;

- it should be easy to pronounce in any language and be phonetically close to Lenin's pseudonym, but in such a way that the similarity is also not felt directly.

How many years did Stalin rule

Actually, Joseph Dzhugashvili finally became Stalin in 1912. Prior to that, he "tried on" many consonant pseudonyms - Solin, Salin, Soselo, Stefin. In dealing with Lenin, the future head of state did not skimp on compliments, giving Vladimir Ilyich the enthusiastic epithet "mountain eagle." Lenin answered him with the nickname "wonderful Georgian", which he used repeatedly. In addition, the leader of the world proletariat called Stalin "an ardent Colchisian." It is curious that after the death of Lenin, the “mountain eagle” began to be called Stalin himself.

During the years of the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union, Stalin was usually addressed not by his first name or patronymic or military rank (“Comrade Marshal (Generalissimo) Soviet Union”), but simply “Comrade Stalin”. During the war, among the leaders of the allies, of course, there were also nicknames. Churchill and Roosevelt, officially addressing the leader of the USSR as "Marshal Stalin", called him "Uncle Joe" among themselves. However, with the start cold war This nickname has gone down in history.

"Great Pilot". For the first time, the official Soviet press called the leader of the USSR so in September 1934. The very combination "Great Pilot" is of Christian origin, like many other epithets and slogans. Soviet propaganda. Obsolete Russian word“helmsman” means a person sitting at the stern of a ship, in other words, a helmsman. Thus, the epithet in relation to Stalin meant nothing more than "standing at the helm of the country." Later, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong, was called that, and, as a rule, this epithet is associated with him today.

Stalin - Father of Nations

Perhaps the most famous of the epithets applied to Stalin appeared long before the advent of the USSR and is of Western European origin. "Fathers of the Nations" called the kings of France, such as Louis XIII or Henry IV. For Stalin, such a nickname was fixed thanks to Soviet publicists from the mid-1930s. It is noteworthy that it was this image that was reinforced by the public appearances of the head of state: since 1935, newspapers began to regularly publish photographs depicting Stalin with young children and sometimes their parents from different parts of the Soviet Union. So he figuratively became the "father" of children with a variety of national roots.

Since the 1930s, the image of Stalin began to take shape in the Soviet media especially dynamically. Then the famous pipe and the green overcoat with breeches appeared in the public mind. And the press described Stalin huge amount epithets, one more colorful than the other - "great leader and teacher", "wise father", "architect of communism", "locomotive of the revolution", "fighter and falcon".

"Alias" literally means false name or a nickname that someone deliberately chooses to hide their official passport name.

Pseudonyms have become very popular in late XIX- the beginning of the XX century. In Russia, they arose with the advent of socio-political literature from the 40s - 60s of the 18th century. The main reason for their emergence was the severe censorship conditions of tsarist times, as well as the desire of high-ranking authors to express their views, hiding their real name and official position for a number of reasons.

Among various covert measures, the party also began to use pseudonyms as party nicknames. It was proposed to form pseudonyms from the most common Russian names. As a result, the most famous figures The RSDLP received the following party pseudonyms:

ANTONOV (V. A. Ovseenko)

BOGDANOV (A. A. Malinovsky)

VOLODIN (K. E. Voroshilov)

DANILOV (F. I. Gurvich)

EGOROV (Levin)

ZINOVYEV (O. A. Appelbaum)

IVANOV (Levina)

MARTYNOV (A. S. Piker)

MIKHAILOV (Postolovsky)

OSIPOV (Zalkind)

PANIN (Halberstadt)

SERGEEV (A. I. Rykov)

FOMIN (V. N. Krokhmal)

Against this background, the surname LENIN (on behalf of Lena) did not make any special impression, and the pseudonym IVANOVICH, chosen by I. V. Dzhugashvili for registration at the 4th Congress, did not particularly stand out.

However, only Lenin and Stalin retained both their surname and pseudonym after the revolution, signing both their surname and pseudonym at the same time:

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V. I. Ulyanov-Lenin

Narkomnats I. V. Dzhugashvili-Stalin

And people remembered equally well both their pseudonyms and surnames. Both that, and another became equally property of history. At the same time, pseudonyms survived longer than surnames and became the main names with which the activities of these historical persons are associated. And this suggests that both pseudonyms were extremely well chosen. For Lenin, it was one of a hundred and fifty pseudonyms he used. For Stalin, it was also one of three dozen of his pseudonyms, and the most recent one. How did he come up with it? Accidentally? Or did you go in your search purposefully and consistently?

Almost all of Stalin's biographers are "subjective idealists". All of them create a "targeted", pre-planned historical version, which is spurred on by everything that "works" for it, which makes the "biography of the villain" fun to read, like a detective story. All the rest, the so-called. "controversial" or "neutral" facts are quietly discarded.

Until now, some elementary facts of Stalin's biography are unknown, especially facts of a personal nature, usually known to figures of a much smaller scale. So, for example, it still remains controversial ... the year of birth, which is discussed below. All of his aliases are unknown. There is no idea about his most important, main alias - Stalin under which he entered world history.

Paradoxically, even during Stalin's lifetime, the issue of publishing the 17th volume of his collected works was not raised, and hence the issue of 18th volume, reference, which should have completed the entire edition.

The publication of the Works suddenly stalled at volume 13. But IMEL and its leadership simply “hidden” and decided not to remind about themselves, being well informed that this issue did not seem relevant to Stalin himself.

This automatically led to the fact that no one in IMEL was entrusted with the "dangerous" work of collecting, systematizing and commenting on pseudonyms. This topic in the period 1947-49. not a single special research article was devoted to the historical-party and academic press, although, as an honorary academician, he had every reason for attention from the "Biographical" and "bibliographic" series published by the USSR Academy of Sciences about the scientists of the country. The publications of IMEL and Eastpart also kept a deep silence on this matter.

At the same time, in 1949, during the period of the struggle against the "cosmopolitans", when newspapers began to disclose literary pseudonyms such as "Viktorov", "Marinin", reporting the Jewish names of their true owners (i.e. writers, poets, journalists, hiding behind these pseudonyms for decades), Stalin publicly spoke at one of the meetings and condemned those who disclosed literary pseudonyms, emphasizing that this was unacceptable. In this “instruction”, IMEL saw a hint that the question of the pseudonyms of Stalin himself could not be the subject of not only research, but also any attention. Such was the atmosphere of the "cult" that gave rise to the most unexpected interpretation of the "instructions of the leader" on the part of the clique of sworn "ideologists".

List of Stalinist pseudonyms

Not considering what we could find to be completely exhaustive, we have collected together all the known printed (written) and oral pseudonyms (nicknames, nicknames) of Stalin and arranged them alphabetically.

Among them 18 pseudonyms from printed works 6 party nicknames given in short biography written in 1925 by I. Tovstukha (then an employee of IMEL and a prominent party worker), and three literary pseudonyms identified by Georgian periodicals of the late 19th century. Besides, two oral pseudonyms, not indicated by I. Tovstukha in 1925, are given without reference to the source in the book by D. Volkogonov, and one- in the book of the Hungarian Sovietologists.

The total number of all identified Stalinist oral and printed pseudonyms is 30 units.

Besoshvili I.
Basil
Gilashvili
David
J-shvili
Ivanovich
K.S.
Ice rink.
Co..
K.Ko.
Koba
Koba Ivanovich
Comrade K.
Nizharadze (Nizheradze)
Melikyants
Same
Chizhikov
Chopur
C -n.K
Saleen, K.
Solin, K.
Soseli (Soseli)
Soselo
Art. AND.
Art. TO.
Stalin, K.
Stephen, K.
Stalin, I.V.

For comparison, the number of pseudonyms of V. I. Lenin is 146 units, of which 17 foreign and 129 Russians.

By carefully studying the above list, we already get some idea of the process of Stalin's pseudonym creation, about some of the favorite and certain letters and words he chose for pseudonyms, about his consistent variation of some pseudonyms and the complete randomness of others. If we filter out random aliases, it is easier to operate with constant, stable ones and understand their logic.

First of all, some surnames do not look like pseudonyms at all. In them, from pseudonyms, only that there are no initials. Therefore, these are nicknames, party names for appearances, and not pseudonyms. Indeed, "Vasily", "Gilashvili", "Ivanovich", "Nizharadze", "Chizhikov", "Chopur" are secret nicknames used by Stalin in extremely brief periods- immediately after escaping from prison or exile, or when traveling to a party congress or to another region, that is, almost every time in solitary cases and every time anew, including with a fake passport, which, when no longer needed, was simply thrown away. All these "pseudonyms" are based on the names of real people: for example, a worker Nizharadze was known to Stalin from Batumi, P. A. Chizhikov- in Vologda (with his real passport, Stalin fled from the Vologda exile). How "Ivanovich" Stalin was delegated to IV Unifying party congress in Stockholm and is noted in its minutes as a representative of the Tiflis organization.

In fact, only two letters - TO. And WITH. attracted Stalin and used them in various variations to create pseudonyms. And this is no coincidence: TO And WITH- the two most massive letters of the Russian alphabet, they have the most words in the Russian language.

The history of the pseudonym "Koba"

On the letter " TO"was Stalin's first stable pseudonym - Koba under which he entered the history of the revolutionary movement in the Caucasus and under which he was mainly known in the party until 1917.

On the letter " WITH"The main pseudonym of Stalin was created, under which he entered into world history. But he did not come to him immediately. Before "Stalin" there were several more aliases for the letter WITH, including his two first pseudonyms, under which his poems were published on Georgian language in the newspapers "Iveria" and "Kvali". These aliases Soselo And Sozeli- diminutives from Joseph, and equivalent to Russian - Osenka and Misfire. For the first time, Stalin used these pseudonyms in 1895, 1896 and in 1899, when his poem was reprinted in a collection dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Rafiel Eristavi. These were pseudonyms without any claims and frills.

But other pseudonyms that preceded or coexisted before 1907 with his more permanent pseudonym Koba contained a hint of pretension. And Stalin, as can be seen from the analysis of these pseudonyms, choosing and inventing them for himself, hesitated all the time, not daring to dwell on them precisely because of their rather transparent pretentiousness. But his pretentiousness was restrained, it was hidden behind the simplicity of form and was lexically short. Two syllables - this is how young Iosif Dzhugashvili limited the length of his pseudonyms: Da-vid, Ka-to, Ko-ba, Sa-lin, So-lin, Ste-fin.

Variants of pseudonyms built on the Georgian nominal basis using the name of the father or mother were decisively discarded by him after one or two uses. Yes, alias I. Besoshvili, which appeared several times in the Gantiali newspaper, then disappeared without a trace. It was based on the Georgian name of the father - Besarion or Beso. Based on another alias - Kato- originally lay the name of the mother - Ekaterina Dzhugashvili and the first wife of Ekaterina Svanidze, in Georgian Keke or Kete.

However, Stalin's claims went in a completely different direction, and not in the approval or glorification of kindred principles. The pseudonym " David", i.e. small, modest biblical David- the winner of the huge Goliath - this is the meaning of this early "oral" pseudonym, or nickname, which Stalin wanted to establish for himself at one time.

Even more serious claims were associated with the rethought pseudonym " K. Kato”, i.e. none other than the ancient Roman figure - Mark Porcius Cato - consul, augur, censor, commander, writer, strict zealot of discipline and order, progressive in doing business, consistent opponent of Carthage ( "Carthage must be destroyed!") - these are historical characters impressed Stalin at the age of 23-26. And here there was no chance in the choice, everything was carefully thought out, even the initials: K. Kato. They testified that Stalin was well acquainted with the Latin original. For although in the gymnasium textbooks Cato was always called Mark Porcius, he latin name to distinguish from his son - Cato the Younger, it was usually written C.Cato (K.Kato), because he was given the honorary name Censorius (Censorius). But "Kato" was too transparent, and Stalin did not linger on it.

His alias is about from the summer of 1903(in Kutaisi prison) becomes Koba, and from January 1904, under this pseudonym, Stalin became known in the revolutionary movement of Transcaucasia.

He varies this pseudonym in the illegal press, but it remains easily recognizable everywhere: K., K.Ko., Koba Ivanovich, Comrade K. And it easily takes root, is well remembered, although not everyone (especially outside the Caucasus) can understand its hidden meaning and significance. But this is exactly what Stalin needs: he wants to have a pseudonym with meaning, but in such a way that this meaning is not very striking in the eyes and would not be offered what is called “on the forehead”. Let only the very smart guess.

What does the name Koba mean?

No matter how we interpret this word, no matter what versions we take for authentic, oddly enough, we always come to the conclusion that this pseudonym had for the young Dzhugashvili - symbolic meaning. And very deeply symbolic.

If proceed from the fact that Koba (Kobe, Kova, Kob) taken from Church Slavonic, then it means - sorcery, augur omen, sorcerer, soothsayer, which is very close to the previous Stalinist pseudonym K. Kato, but in a broader and more generalized sense.

If proceed from the fact that this word Georgian and means name, then Koba is the Georgian equivalent of the name Persian king Kobades who played a big role in the early medieval history of Georgia.

King Koba conquered Eastern Georgia, under him the capital of Georgia was transferred from Mtskheta to Tbilisi (end of the 5th century).

But Koba not just a king from the Sassanid dynasty, he - according to the recall of the Byzantine historian Theophan - great wizard. Bound in due time by his throne magicians from an early communist sect that preached an equal division of all property, Koba brought the sectarians closer to governance, which caused horror among the upper classes, who decided to plot against Koba and overthrew him from the throne. But the imprisoned communist tsar was freed by a woman devoted to him, and he again regained the throne. These details of the biography of Tsar Koba in some ways (communist ideals, prison, a woman's help in escaping, a triumphant return to the throne) coincided with the facts of Stalin's biography. Moreover, they continued to coincide even when Stalin parted with this pseudonym, for in 1904-1907. Stalin could not, of course, foresee the years 1936-38, but he knew that his counterpart, Tsar Koba, in 529 (two years before his death) brutally dealt with all his former allies, - communist Mazdakites.

Some foreign biographers of Stalin (and after him, domestic ones who imitate them), relying on the instructions of some of their superficial Georgian informants, believe that Stalin borrowed the pseudonym Koba, supposedly from the name of the hero of one of the novels of the Georgian classic A. Kazbegi - "Paricide", who was also called Koba, and who appears in the novel as an abrek mountaineer, leading the struggle for the independence of his homeland. However, it should be borne in mind that A. Kazbegi himself - the name Koba - is secondary, it was taken from the Koba-king, after which it became widespread in Georgia. But it is also important to note that Stalin could not be impressed by the image of a lone abrek, since the image of the communist tsar Koba was both historically significant and symbolically immeasurably closer to Stalin's whole worldview. In addition, in the political articles and speeches of Stalin in the period 1902 - 1907. we find clear traces of his acquaintance with the Persian history of the Sassanid era. One of them is Stalin's systematic and favorite use of the term satraps to designate tsarist officials in Russia.

For Georgians, this was not only a commonly understood, but also a multi-talking term. There is no doubt that the historical prototype that served as the basis for the pseudonym Koba, i.e. communist king Kobades impressed Stalin as a state and politically strong, significant personality, and in addition, he possessed features in his biography that were strikingly similar to the biography and psychology of Stalin himself.

However, the pseudonym Koba was convenient only in the Caucasus. As soon as Joseph Dzhugashvili turned out to be more closely connected with Russian party organizations, as soon as he “wiped himself” in Russian prisons and Siberian exile, as soon as he began to work in such purely Russian regions as the Vologda province and St. Petersburg, the question arose of changing too Georgian pseudonym Koba to some other one that sounds Russian and makes sense for Russian people.

And it is quite logical that after being in exile in Solvychegodsk (or, as the local Vologda residents then said, “on the Salt”), Iosif Dzhugashvili appeared in the Social Democrat newspaper under new pseudonyms (1910) - K.S. - K.S-n, K.Stefin, and a little later, in 1912, in the "Star" - already K.Salin, and then K.Solin. The latter is quite clear in its connection with Salt, Usolye, Solvychegodsk, - he is transparent. Before him, Stalin used the less transparent K. Salin (from Latin, and not from the Russian name of salt - salsa). But this pseudonym immediately showed its unsuitability due to the fact that it could easily be confused with the Russian "fat", which clearly had negative meaning, which Stalin initially simply could not have known due to insufficient familiarity with the Russian language, and even more so with Russian culinary symbols. But he also did not linger on the pseudonym Solin: in the meaning of “salt of the earth”, that is, in a figurative high gospel meaning, the Russian people did not perceive salt. And this was quite enough for Stalin to discard this version of the pseudonym without regret.

Moreover, his pseudonym passed briefly K. Stefin, i.e. Stefin Koba, Koba Stefa (Stepanids, Stephanies) - the first of those who followed after escaping from Solvychegodsk exile. This alias was apparently last tribute feeling from Stalin: he was taken in honor of the woman who helped him escape from the house of MP Kuznakova, where he was under the supervision of the local police. A certain Stefa lulled the vigilance of both the hostess Kuznakova and the police officer there, undoubtedly being under the influence of the masculine charm of the burning Georgian I. Dzhugashvili.

Stalin is 32 years old. He worked in the revolutionary movement for almost 15 years, during which time he changed two dozen different pseudonyms. Of these, only one - Koba - took root well and had a meaning that completely satisfied Stalin. But it could not be preserved further due to the expansion of Stalin's activities beyond the borders of Transcaucasia.

The question of choosing a new pseudonym (along with Koba or instead of Koba) confronts Stalin almost no earlier than the autumn of 1911. However, this issue becomes especially relevant for Stalin in the following year, 1912.

Stalin's "arshin of vodka"

Having got to the North of Russia for the first time, to Solvychegodsk, in March 1908, and then, after a quick escape, he was again sent there in March 1910 and stayed there until the autumn of 1911, i.e., having lived in the North of Russia in total 2 years and 9 months, Stalin discovered Russia, the real Russian people, closely recognizing its best, purest part - the Vologda, Vychegzhan, that is, the descendants of the ancient Novgorodians, not affected by the corrupting influence of Central and Southern Russia.

Here, in the North, cut off from the Transcaucasian environment and intrigues, Stalin for the first time feels what Russia is like, what a huge moral and political potential for the revolution is the local Russian people, deeply pure in soul, crystal honest, sincerely alien to all capitalist temptations, ready for self-sacrifice and endless patience.

Stalin first encounters the Russian indigenous people and realizes that it will be quite easy for him to win the sympathy of this people, because this people is trusting, open, and ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of a bright idea and for the sake of someone who seems to him smarter, stronger and more determined than himself. And this opens up completely new perspectives both in revolutionary work and in the revolutionary career of Koba himself.

The fact is that in December 1912 Stalin should have turned 33 years. Already on the eve of this event, at the end of 1911, he considered this period a key one for himself, as a result of which he decided at all costs to escape from exile in the fall of 1911. The failure associated with the arrest on September 9 did not discourage him, given that the decisions of the Prague Conference only confirmed his confidence in his lucky star and in the need to be the blacksmith of his own happiness precisely at the decisive moment of his 33rd birthday - the age of great accomplishments. That is why, once again in St. Petersburg from the end of February 1912, Stalin develops vigorous activity in preparation for the release of the first issue of Pravda, which happens on April 22, 1912. On the same day, Stalin is arrested and exiled away from St. Petersburg, into the wilderness - in the Narym region. But Stalin also escaped from the Narym exile, and in the same 1912, the most important and decisive year for him. Stalin himself considered this escape so brilliant and classic that, contrary to his rules, he told details about it after the revolution to some foreign interviewers. For example, the observant Henri Barbusse noted that the main reason for the success of this escape was Stalin's excellent knowledge of the psychology of the simple Russian people.

Stalin was not extradited (despite his accent and appearance) by the most simple and “worn out” Russian people - coachmen, peasants, servants of inns, without whose assistance no escape across Russia would have been possible. Other Russian revolutionaries, especially from among the intelligentsia, often could not find a common language with ordinary people, or stood out from the masses so much with their "lordly" habits or behavior that they aroused suspicion among the common people, who, being strictly accustomed to Russian state discipline, immediately reported "strange bars" to the authorities. It was thanks to such denunciations of coachmen, maids, janitors and other "forced people" that the most skillfully prepared escapes from the Siberian exiles of the Decembrists, Chernyshevsky and the masses of Narodnaya Volya nobles were thwarted and failed.

Stalin, using intuitively and consciously some traits of the Russian character, knew how to win over coachmen on Siberian tracts. He did not beg them to hide him from the police with promises to give money and did not offer them, like a master, "to give him vodka." Stalin did his best to avoid people perceiving him as a person who wanted to “bribe” them, to do something illegal for a bribe, because he understood well how such proposals offended open, naive, honest, simple Russian provincial people. Instead, he “honestly” told the drivers that he had no money to pay for the trip, but, fortunately, he had a couple of bottles of vodka and he offered to pay by "an arshin of vodka" for each run between settlements How long will these shtofs last? The driver, of course, laughingly began to assure this obviously non-Russian foreigner that vodka is measured in buckets, not arshins. And then Stalin, pulled out a wooden yardstick from behind the bootleg - a board 71 cm long, took out several metal cups from the bag, tightly set the yardstick with them, poured vodka into them and showed in practice how he understood "yardstick of vodka". This caused general laughter, merriment, because all this was somehow new, unusual, and pleasantly “hampered” the Russian person in an atmosphere of dullness and routine of provincial life. The main thing is that such an approach turned a bribe from a “handout” and “bribery” into a friendly game, depriving the whole deal of indecency that embarrassed people, because it created a situation of comradely jokes, excitement and friendly interaction, since often the second or third “arshin of vodka” was drunk together. “And where did you come from, such a funny guy!- said the drivers, parting with an unusual passenger, not without regret. - "Come visit us again!", - since he got off after three or four stations, from where he continued the same game with other coachmen - always passing a small segment of the path and never saying the final point of his journey, and not at all mentioning a single station that he did not know even in whose name I did not want to be mistaken. He rode - as long as there was enough "arshin of vodka" or several arshins. And so steadily and reliably moved from Siberia to European Russia avoiding any contact with the police.

So, despite all his Georgian, “Kapkaz” appearance and despite his clearly non-Russian accent and speech, Stalin succeeded in his daring escapes from the most remote corners of the Russian Empire. He knew the people. And the people, feeling this, were on his side, of course, and not suspecting who they were really dealing with.

He is inflexible and flexible like steel

Arriving in St. Petersburg in mid-September 1912, Stalin threw himself into revolutionary work. His 33rd anniversary takes on a solemn character with record-winning results of his decisive year in his life:

Three times successful run.
Election to the leadership of the party.
Active, successful work in St. Petersburg on the election of Bolshevik deputies to the State Duma.
The successful and expanding publication of Pravda, the formation around it of a broad Bolshevik core among the working class and in the revolutionary movement.
Clearly open approval and benevolent attitude of V. I. Lenin himself.

All these facts taken together cause Stalin to make a decision that was already taking shape - to devote his activity exclusively to work in Russia, to leave, break away from his Transcaucasian region, to enter the broad road of all-Russian political activity.

Trips abroad, to Austria-Hungary, leave an impression on Stalin: “It turns out that the devil is not so terrible!” It turns out that it is not scary to participate in the decision not only purely internal problems and the Russian labor movement, but also in international issues labor movement, which still remained the prerogative of such refined representatives of the highly educated intelligentsia in the party as Ganetsky, Lunacharsky, Krasin, Kollontai, Litvinov, Armand, Borovsky, who constituted the vanguard of the Leninist diplomatic cohort, who had both the appropriate education, and the scientific level and experience of secular communication, and, not in last turn, - possessing knowledge of three or four European languages.

Stalin, of course, could not at that time dream of entering closely into this cohort, but after visiting Krakow and Vienna at the end of 1912 he could already recognize himself as versed in "foreign problems". He began to study German, having begun to read and understand German political literature quite tolerably.

All this taken together predetermined the intended change of pseudonym. Neither in the party of the Russian proletariat, nor even more so in the face of the international labor movement, Iosif Dzhugashvili, as a member of the leadership of the Bolsheviks, could no longer be Koba. It became completely incomprehensible against the background of a different language environment, and even turned into something frivolous, a little comical. And the old seminarian Joseph Dzhugashvili, who diligently studied ancient Greek philosophy, knew perfectly well the classical philosophical postulate of Aristotle that funny is the main reflection of the imperfect, and therefore funny is the most unacceptable thing in politics.

Humor, chuckles, chuckles and hahanki - have always been associated with the idea of clowning, buffoonery also among the simple Russian people, who considered such "humorists" as holy fools, and therefore treated them for the most part not seriously.

The Russian people needed serious, strict, respectable leaders - not throwing words into the wind. His alias was henceforth to be:

Sounding Russian and Russian in design.
Extremely serious, significant, impressive in content, not allowing any interpretations and misunderstandings.
To have a deep meaning, and at the same time not particularly conspicuous, not to hit the effect, to be calm.
Easily pronounced in any language and phonetically close to Lenin's pseudonym, but in such a way that the similarity is also not felt "on the forehead."

Stalin came to all these conclusions gradually, if we analyze his work on his 22 pseudonyms over ... 17 years (1895 - 1912). And all these conditions were met by a pseudonym - Stalin.

It is difficult to say now, when there is no one left alive from the old Bolshevik Party, as it was then accepted new Stalinist pseudonym. It can be assumed that they nevertheless noticed him, but they reacted calmly: there were a lot of pseudonyms in the party then. But in 1935, Henri Barbusse, without hiding his admiration, wrote: "This - iron Man. The surname gives us his image: Stalin is steel. He is inflexible and flexible like steel.".

Apparently Barbus seized main idea Stalin, who led him in the selection: this is the pseudonym of the leader of the revolutionary movement in a huge, many-sided empire, whose task is to forge a strong, steel, iron party, ready for the upcoming battles. Steel has one meaning - it is clear to everyone: strong, tough, inevitable, irresistible. Iron not only softer than steel, iron is "softer" phonetically. Steel, on the other hand, has only two syllables - and even, if you think about it - one. To be gathered into a fist, not to spread, to act tough, tougher, even tougher! - this is the meaning that this pseudonym carried. The complexity and romanticism of Koba were discarded as not meeting the new national and historical conditions.

I. V. Dzhugashvili began to sign with a new pseudonym "TO. Stalin", starting from January 1913. Thus was signed the first major major theoretical work "Marxism and the national question."

From the pseudonym "Koba" Stalin allowed himself to save only one initial "TO". He served as a "connecting link" with the previous period of activity, and a "signal" to friends, and simply a "memorable sign" for himself, a memory that one stage in life had been passed.

At the beginning of the 20s, in the party environment, and especially among the intelligentsia, it was widely believed that "Stalin" is a simple translation into Russian of the Georgian root of his surname - "Juga", which supposedly means "steel". This conviction was also confirmed by the Georgian side. Many prominent intellectuals of Georgia, academicians, writers, in their private conversations with their Moscow and Leningrad colleagues, often confirmed this version: “Yes,“ dzhuga ”in Georgian, or rather in ancient Georgian - means“ steel ”,“ damask steel ”.

However, this is not only not true, but is also a direct invention. which has no factual and philological basis. The fact is that modern Georgians themselves simply do not know what the word “juga” means, because this word is very ancient. It seems to sound in Georgian, but its meaning has simply been lost. In such cases, they argue something like this: “God knows what it means. They say "steel", so people seem to think so, well, let there be "steel".

The Georgian word "juga" also belongs to this kind of "forgotten" words. And it does not mean "steel" at all. "Juga"- this is a very ancient pagan Georgian word with a Persian tinge, common during the period of Iranian rule over Georgia, and it means just a name. The meaning, like many names, is not translatable. Name like name like Russian Ivan. Therefore, Dzhugashvili means simply "son of Jugi" and nothing else.

The secret of the "leopard skin"

Shortly after the arrival of a small Soso(that was the affectionate name of Joseph Vissarionovich in childhood) at the school, namely, in 1889 When Joseph was 10 years old, a significant event for that time took place in cultural life Georgia. In Tiflis, an unusual for that time edition of Shota Rustaveli's "Leopard Skin" appeared in translation into five languages.

It is not known whether a student of Dzhugashvili could have seen this publication then or a little later, but it is known that when he was 15-16 years old, Soso came up with the idea of replenishing his education by ... reading books in ... second-hand bookshops, standing for a long time at the counter immersed in reading supposedly " the book in question.

When this trick was discovered and he was almost banned from bookstores, young Dzhugashvili came up with another trick: he began to rent books from a reading store, paying 10 kopecks each. per day. But he did not read these books, but persuaded several friends to collectively rewrite them. Two people copied at once - each on a page, sitting on both sides of a book open on the table. This technique speeded up the rewriting so much that the friends managed to rewrite a rather thick book worth 3 rubles in three days, and, consequently, it cost them only 30 kopecks. (for three), that is, ten times cheaper. The manuscripts were carefully bound, and in this way, in a comparatively a short time Soso has a fairly decent library. When he was expelled from the seminary and began working at the observatory, this “library” was kept in his room. Later, when Iosif Dzhugashvili went into hiding (1901), the library was distributed among friends, but they continued to use it together.

Among the books of this "library", undoubtedly, there should have been a volume of Shota Rustaveli. In any case, it is known that Dzhugashvili met "Vephis tkaosani", as it was called in Georgian "The Knight in the Panther's Skin", at least between 1895 - 1901. Since the Tiflis 1889 edition was the closest in time, and the St. Petersburg editions relating to 1841, 1846, 1860 were practically inaccessible in Tiflis, and new editions of Rustaveli's poem appeared only when Stalin was no longer in Georgia, i.e. in 1903, 1913 and 1914, then the only way for Stalin to get acquainted with the work of Georgian medieval classics remained or Georgian text edition 1880, or more recent edition 1889, which was also produced in a much larger circulation. In favor latest edition says the fact that Stalin always quoted in his works and in oral speech the most winged sayings of Rustaveli, usually in Russian language!

One of Stalin's favorites was, for example, the aphorism often repeated by Rustaveli himself, and apparently applied to himself: "My life is as ruthless as a beast". Stalin remembered him especially often after the suicide of his wife, N. S. Alliluyeva. Very early, already in the period 1905-1907, and even more so later, Rustaveli's no less famous words became the guiding principle of life and struggle for Stalin: "An enemy is more dangerous than a close one who turned out to be an enemy". They explain to us much more and more truthfully all the activities of Stalin.

In 1936 - 1937. solemnly celebrated 750th anniversary of Shota Rustaveli. There was everything that is necessary in such cases. However, at the exhibition of all published books "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" there was only one edition - 1889. Why?

And the matter was as follows. On title page 1889 editions, hidden in honor of the 750th anniversary in distant museum storerooms, was:

And then the reason for the withdrawal from exhibitions in honor of the 750th anniversary of this particular publication became clear.

Indeed, the appearance of the surname of some pre-revolutionary Stalinsky's interpreter, and even on a Georgian poem, in Stalin era, in the era of the Stalinist constitution, while alive, would be at least strange and shocking, but in fact simply defiant for millions of Soviet people who are accustomed to seeing in Stalin the one and only leader, with his only surname in the country. Such a "phenomenon" would unpleasantly cut the ear of everyone and everyone, and could become a source for the spread of the most incredible and absurd tales, the less solid, the more ignorant the people who spread them could be.

Therefore, all protective measures were met with full understanding among literary critics, historians and bibliographers, because they were smart, honest and disciplined people thirties.

Such a "ban" was quite understandable, and according to the convictions of the 1930s, it was completely justified and even extremely necessary from a large, state point of view. For nothing can be shocked, nothing can be turned into a toy or a “sensation” in state shrines, so as not to introduce unnecessary, but inevitable doubts and hesitations, if the whole country really wants to take care of state peace and good.

If there is no very fact of the existence of such a book in front of people's eyes, then there will be no problem of the appearance of rumors, anecdotes, etc. Therefore, the book of the 1889 edition was temporarily put away in storage, but, of course, they kept it in the funds.

But there was another side to this phenomenon., which at that time remained completely out of the attention of scientists. No one came up with, What exactly surname Stalinsky and served as the basis for the choice of a pseudonym by Joseph Dzhugashvili. And Stalin, giving the order to conceal the publication of 1889, took care, first of all, that the "secret" of his choice of his pseudonym would not be disclosed. (Briefly about Stalin. This is the son of the exiled Polish officer, whose real name is Khrustalinsky or Kristalinsky. The son "dropped" the first three letters.)

Thus, even the “Russian” pseudonym, specially designed for activities in Russia, turned out to be closely associated with Stalin with Georgia, the Caucasus, its culture, and with memories of childhood and youth.

Stalin remained a romantic at heart even in 1912. This is beyond doubt. But he has already learned to chain his heart, his feelings into an impenetrable steel shell, for life has taught him to hide his "I" or, more accurately, not to reveal yourself to others. Too many disappointments were associated with increased youthful Caucasian emotionality and frankness. He suffered too many blows - both personal and party in connection with this. But he took it all. Survived everything. And he came out of the fight hardened - like good damask steel. He realized that in order to succeed in political struggle one must be able not to reveal to the outside world, even to friends, one's feelings, mind and heart. So rather. No one should penetrate into the holy of holies of his soul - neither a friend, nor a beloved woman. And no one should ever assume that his steel alias has some connection with romantic youth and serves as its distant and hidden echo.

Based on all this, Stalin decided from now on to resort to another means of disguising his inexhaustible "romance" to outwardly rude behavior, which gradually, and at critical moments, sometimes became simply rude, and attracted the attention of party comrades, and personally Lenin, who, not understanding the causes of this phenomenon, that is, not guessing the underlying motives of this " masks, which turned into second nature, treated this trait of Stalin’s character with regret and condemnation, since, from their point of view, it did not give popularity either to him personally, let alone to the party.

But Stalin had a different view on this matter and focused more on the masses, on the ideas about the norms of behavior of the “bosses” among, so to speak, the less intelligent environment, among the “subordinates”. He believed that he understood the psychology of the Russian people. No wonder, after the Great Patriotic War, he frankly called "patience" - main feature Russian national character.

Thus, from January 1, 1913 appeared not only a new political figure in the revolutionary movement in Russia - Stalin- but ceased to exist, "disappeared" old party comrade, "fun guy Koba".

After his 33rd birthday, Stalin significantly changed the way he behaved, began to acquire, as we would now say, a “new image”, as secretary of the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party. Most importantly, he became even more restrained and even less inclined than before to reveal his inner feelings to others.

The secret of Stalin's date of birth

official date of birth, according to all reference books, encyclopedias and documents is considered December 21, 1879(December 9, 1879 old style).

However, according to metric book of the Gori Cathedral of the Dormition, which registered the fact of Stalin's birth, it is indicated that “The peasants of Vissarion Ivanovich Dzhugashvili and his wife Ekaterina Gavrilovna had a son, Joseph - December 6, 1878, who was baptized on December 17, in the same church ".

Finally, there is personally a questionnaire filled out by Stalin with questions about his biography, addressed to him by the Swedish newspaper Folkets Dagblad Politiken in 1920, where he himself wrote the date of his birth - 1878 By the way, this is the only document where the date is affixed by Stalin's hand. In all other cases, in the materials and questionnaires of party congresses, starting from the 6th, in party cards, in the lists of members of the Central Committee, etc., Stalin's date of birth is marked everywhere by the hand of the corresponding secretary, registrar, or assistant, and everywhere it is only 1879.

Let's stop at the birthday party. The metric book indicates December 6, 1878 This is a festive day for the Orthodox, the day of Saint Nicholas. Since this holiday was one of the most revered and noticeable, it would be impossible to confuse his day. However, in official documents, since 1918, figures another day - 9th December according to the old style, from which the date is counted 21 December, as the official birthday of the New Style. It's clear that December 9 - the date that appeared as a result of a typo, moreover, a slip made in the institution, and in the presence of a typewriter. Such a situation could only exist after 1917, in one of the central Soviet institutions - in the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Central Committee of the RCP (b), the Council of People's Commissars and the Revolutionary Military Council of the Red Army. It was in these institutions that, when Stalin was given this or that mandate, instead of "6" type "9". And since in pre-revolutionary times the party did not particularly pay attention to birthdays, and Stalin himself never saw his metrics in his life, then since 1922, when it was necessary to compile for the collection “Figures of the USSR and October revolution» an accurate authorized biography, or give a completely self-written autobiography, then Stalin first pointed out birthday on December 21 according to the new style, counting from December 9, that is, from an erroneous date. It is possible that someone made this mistake. from secretaries or assistants, for Stalin only ordered prepare your curriculum vitae, and then reviewed and corrected this text personally, paying special attention to the wording, and not taking into account that the number 21 counted according to the new style not from 6 December, and from 9 . Thus, the origin of the date December 21 is the result of a technical typo or error. Moreover, this error, in essence, is insignificant, because it does not change anything. A person celebrates his birthday three days later. But when this person reaches such social standing Since this date is celebrated by the whole country, then it is all the more impossible to correct or change such a date. So there was a birthday - December 21. Only person who knew that this was not so, and could be dissatisfied with such a mistake, was only the old Keke - Ekaterina Georgievna Dzhugashvili, Stalin's mother, but she, of course, wiser by experience, did not share this "" trifle "with anyone.

Now let's take a look at something more important. discrepancy in year of birth: 1878 And 1879 . Stalin, of course, firmly remembered his metric year of birth and everywhere, right up to 1920, indicated it correctly. But in party documents after 1917, 1879 appeared everywhere. For the first time, this date appeared in the materials (questionnaires) of the VI Congress of the Party. It is known that Stalin was prone to the mysticism of numbers. According to the Georgian-Persian account the number 5 was endowed with a magical meaning. Everything that was multiple 5 was supposed to bring happiness, or come true. IN 1917 the first five years after 1912, "year of accomplishments" for Stalin. Stalin believed that in 1917 there would not only be a revolution, but also that it would succeed and certainly win. And when this really happened, he became even more confident both in his Marxist knowledge and conclusions, and in his belief in lucky five.

In this regard, he mentally took a look at the entire path traveled before the revolution, comparing it with "five-year plans". IN 1889 the publication "Vephis kaosani" appeared, which was destined to help him in choosing a "strong" pseudonym, and at that time he was smooth 10 years. IN 1899 he was expelled from the seminary and became a professional revolutionary, and at that time he turned smooth 20 years. Hence, it is much more correct to count from 1879., and not formally since 1878. For only a few days of the end of December separate him from 1879, and, if it were not for an accident, and his mother would inform him for another week, then he would formally and actually be born in 1879. After all, in fact, his life began not with the almost completely past 1878, but with the beginning of 1879. That is why he always cited in Russia only this date, and decided after 1917 to finally adhere to it as real, and not “dogmatic”, which was 1878. And when, contrary to the rule he had already adopted, in 1920 he indicated 1878 then this was done because the date was indicated for abroad where, as Stalin knew perfectly well, terribly bureaucratic and formal views prevailed, and where a deviation from the date in the metrics would be considered sensational.

Thus, we see that there is a completely clear, understandable, logical and plausible explanation of why the official date of birth was indicated in the USSR as 1879, and not 1878, as in the metric, and for what reasons Stalin himself “corrected” this date.

(According to the work of V. V. Pokhlebkin “The Great Pseudonym”)

How did it happen that an ordinary teenager from the provincial Georgian village of Gori became the “head of the people”? We decided to see what factors contributed to the fact that Koba, who hunted for robberies, became Joseph Stalin.

The father factor

A father's upbringing plays an important role in the maturation of a man. Iosif Dzhugashvili was actually deprived of it. Koba's official father, shoemaker Vissarion Dzhugashvili, drank a lot. Ekaterina Geladze divorced him when her son was 12 years old.

The paternity of Vissarion Dzhugashvili is still disputed by historians. Simon Montefiori in his book "Young Stalin" writes about three "candidates" for this role: the wine merchant Yakov Ignatashvili, the head of the Gori police Damian Davrichui and the priest Christopher Charkviani.

childhood trauma

The character of Stalin in childhood was seriously affected by the injury that he received at the age of twelve: in a traffic accident, Joseph injured left hand, over time, it became shorter and weaker than the right one. Due to his dry hand, Koba could not fully participate in youthful brawls, he could win them only with the help of cunning. A hand injury prevented Kobe from learning to swim. Also, at the age of five, Joseph fell ill with smallpox and barely survived, after which he had the first “special sign”: “a pockmarked face, with smallpox signs.”

The feeling of physical inferiority was reflected in the character of Stalin. Biographers note the vindictiveness of the young Koba, his temper, secrecy and penchant for conspiracies.

Relationship with mother

Stalin's relationship with his mother was not easy. They wrote letters to each other, but rarely met. When the mother visited her son for the last time, this happened a year before her death, in 1936, she expressed regret that he never became a priest. Stalin was only amused. When the mother died, Stalin did not go to the funeral, he only sent a wreath with the inscription "Dear and beloved mother from her son Joseph Dzhugashvili."

Such a cool relationship between Stalin and his mother can be explained by the fact that Ekaterina Georgievna was an independent person and was never shy in her assessments. For the sake of her son, when Joseph was not yet either Koba or Stalin, she learned to cut and sew, mastered the profession of a milliner, but she did not have enough time to raise her son. Ros Joseph on the street.

Birth of Koba

The future Stalin had a lot of party nicknames. He was called "Osip", "Ivanovich", "Vasiliev", "Vasily", but the most famous nickname of the young Joseph Dzhugashvili is Koba. It is significant that Mikoyan and Molotov, even in the 30s, addressed Stalin in this way. Why Koba?

Literature influenced. One of the favorite books of the young revolutionary was the novel by the Georgian writer Alexander Kazbegi "The Parricide". This is a book about the struggle of mountaineer peasants for their independence. One of the heroes of the novel - the fearless Koba - also became a hero for the young Stalin, who, after reading the book, began to call himself Koba.

Women

In the book of the British historian Simon Montefiore "Young Stalin", the author claims that Koba was very loving in his youth. Montefiore, however, does not consider this to be something special; such a way of life, the historian writes, was characteristic of the revolutionaries.

Montefiore claims that among Koba's mistresses were peasant women, noblewomen, and party comrades-in-arms (Vera Schweitzer, Valentina Lobova, Lyudmila Stal).

The British historian also claims that two peasant women from the Siberian villages (Maria Kuzakova, Lidia Pereprygina), where Koba was serving a link, gave birth to sons from him, whom Stalin never recognized.
Despite such turbulent relations with women, Koba's main business was, of course, the revolution. In an interview with Ogonyok magazine, Simon Montefiore commented on the information he obtained: “Only party comrades were considered worthy of respect. Love, family were expelled from life, which was supposed to be dedicated only to the revolution. What seems to us immoral and criminal in their behavior did not matter to them.”

"Ex"

Today it is already well known that Koba, in his youth, did not disdain illegal deeds. Koba showed particular zeal during expropriations. At the congress of the Bolsheviks in Stockholm in 1906, the so-called "exes" were banned, a year later, already at the London congress, this decision was confirmed. It is significant that the congress in London ended on June 1, 1907, and the most notorious robbery of two State Bank carriages, organized by Koba Ivanovich, took place later - on June 13. Koba did not comply with the demands of the congress for the reason that he considered them Mensheviks, on the issue of "ex" he took the position of Lenin, who approved them.

During the aforementioned robbery, Koba's group managed to get 250 thousand rubles. 80 percent of this money was sent to Lenin, the rest went to the needs of the cell.

Stalin's not too clean reputation could become an obstacle to his advancement in the future. In 1918, the head of the Mensheviks, Julius Martov, published an article in which he gave three examples of Koba's illegal activities: the robbery of the carriages of the State Bank in Tiflis, the murder of a worker in Baku, and the seizure of the Nicholas I steamer in Baku.

Moreover, Martov even wrote that Stalin had no right to hold government posts, since he was expelled from the party in 1907. Stalin was furious at this article, he argued that this exclusion was illegal, since it was carried out by the Tiflis cell, controlled by the Mensheviks. That is, Stalin did not deny the fact of his expulsion. But he threatened Martov with a revolutionary tribunal.

Why "Stalin"?

Throughout his life, Stalin had three dozen pseudonyms. At the same time, it is significant that Joseph Vissarionovich did not make secrets from his surname. Who now remembers Apfelbaum, Rosenfeld and Wallach (Zinoviev, Kamenev, Litvinov)? But Ulyanov-Lenin and Dzhugashvili-Stalin are well known. Stalin chose the pseudonym quite deliberately. According to William Pokhlebkin, who devoted the work “The Great Pseudonym” to this issue, several factors coincided when choosing a pseudonym. The real source when choosing a pseudonym was the surname of a liberal journalist, at first close to the populists, and then to the Social Revolutionaries, Yevgeny Stefanovich Stalinsky, one of the prominent Russian professional publishers of periodicals in the province and the translator into Russian of Sh. Rustaveli's poem - "The Knight in the Panther's Skin". Stalin was very fond of this poem. There is also a version that Stalin took a pseudonym based on the name of one of his mistresses, party comrades Lyudmila Stal.

Famous personalities have always used pseudonyms. This is very convenient, especially for creative people: poets, artists chose a name for themselves that had a special meaning, talking about something. Sometimes the choice of a pseudonym is associated with political activities and helps to hide for a long time. Especially often it was used by such famous people like V. I. Lenin, I. V. Stalin. Many people are interested in why Lenin is Lenin?

Leader of the proletariat

Ulyanov Vladimir Ilyich used many pseudonyms for his own. Future leader Russian proletariat led a stormy and was a member of the Social Democratic Party. Of course, he often had to hide, change his name. One of his pseudonyms was Lenin. This name remained with him until the end of his life. There are several versions of why Lenin took the pseudonym Lenin, and they all seem plausible.

Lena river

Some historians say that Vladimir Ilyich took this surname from the name of the Lena River. The legend says that in 1912, workers who went on strike were shot on this river. This event shocked V. I. Lenin, and in memory of the dead, he decided to take this pseudonym for himself. But the fact is that he began to sign with this name much earlier - back in 1901. So, there was another reason or reason to take the name Lenin (a pseudonym). Why can't it be an imitation?

Plekhanov - Volgin

It is impossible not to take into account the fact that the comrades-in-arms in the struggle communicated with each other, often imitated each other. So, knowing that Plekhanov took the pseudonym Volgin for himself, Vladimir Ilyich decided to use a similar name - also from the name of the river. And that was in 1901.

In the same period, the well-known agronomist S. N. Lenin also took part in public events. The future leader of the proletariat often quoted this scientist and could well use his last name. So, it turns out why Lenin is Lenin. But no - there is another, more plausible version.

Friendly Help

It turns out that there was another episode in the life of Lenin, which brought him to this surname. Before all the events described above, in 1900, Vladimir Ilyich had to urgently leave Russian Empire. But this required a foreign passport. Because of his political activities, Lenin was sure that he would not be allowed to go abroad. I had to look for another opportunity to get a passport. And at this time it happens unexpected meeting Krupskaya with her good school friend, who also sympathized democratic movement socialists. It was she who stole the passport from her father - Lenin Nikolai Yegorovich - and provided it to the future leader of the proletariat. It was enough to fake only the year of birth, and Vladimir Ilyich became Nikolai Lenin. Since then, the leader of this surname and signed. From history it becomes clear why Lenin is Lenin.

Companion of the leader of the proletariat

The history of the revolution gave birth to its heroes, leaders, politicians. The current generation receives a different education, different from education in the USSR. Many do not know the details of the life of Lenin and his associates. Therefore, they ask the question: why is Lenin - Lenin, and Stalin - Stalin?

At the end of the 19th century, an excellent translator E.S. Stalinsky lived and worked. He was engaged in journalism, was a publisher - editor. He owns best translation works of Shota Rustaveli - "The Knight in the Panther's Skin". During this period, I. Dzhugashvili also wrote poetry and even published. Of course, he heard about Stalinsky, read his translations. From his youth, he loved the newspaper "Caucasus". And "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" is one of Stalin's favorite works.

History events

So, reading Georgian literary magazines and newspapers, acquaintance with the works of E. Stalinsky led to the fact that I. Dzhugashvili had great respect for this person. He also had an excellent memory: many years later, being an ally of Lenin, Iosif Vissarionovich took advantage of Stalinsky's surname, shortening it. That is why Lenin is Lenin and Stalin is Stalin. These pseudonyms became known to the whole world.

Of course, the pseudonyms of political figures are strongly associated with historical events the period when the state was going through a crisis. But often the name taken matches the person so much that many remember him only by a pseudonym and do not know real name. But it is necessary to study history so that such questions as this one do not arise: why Lenin is Lenin?

Not everyone shares the convictions of the revolutionaries, social democrats and similar figures of the beginning of the last century. But the events have already happened, they must be remembered, studied and known to the leaders of the movement, including their names and pseudonyms.

The father factor

childhood trauma

The character of Stalin in childhood was seriously affected by the injury that he received at the age of twelve: in a traffic accident, Joseph injured his left arm, over time it became shorter and weaker than his right. Due to his dry hand, Koba could not fully participate in youthful brawls, he could win them only with the help of cunning. A hand injury prevented Kobe from learning to swim. Also, at the age of five, Joseph fell ill with smallpox and barely survived, after which he had the first “special sign”: “a pockmarked face, with smallpox signs.”

The feeling of physical inferiority was reflected in the character of Stalin. Biographers note the vindictiveness of the young Koba, his temper, secrecy and penchant for conspiracies.

Relationship with mother

Birth of Koba

Women

Montefiore claims that among Koba's mistresses were peasant women, noblewomen, and party comrades-in-arms (Vera Schweitzer, Valentina Lobova, Lyudmila Stal).

"Ex"

During the aforementioned robbery, Koba's group managed to get 250 thousand rubles. 80 percent of this money was sent to Lenin, the rest went to the needs of the cell.