The sofa at Kuntsevo on which Stalin died on 5 March 1953.10
The ageing but determined Stalin watches Malenkov give the chief report at his last public appearance at the Nineteenth Congress in 1952.6
Khrushchev, Bulganin, Kaganovich, Mikoyan, Beria, Malenkov, Molotov and Voroshilov face each other over Stalin’s body.4
Stalin at the 1927 Congress: in his prime.2
The author and the publishers offer their thanks to the following for their kind permission to reproduce images:
1 Alliluyev Family Collection
2 RGASPI
3 Vlasik Family Collection
4 AKG
5 Poskrebyshev Family Collection
6 David King Collection
7 Camera Press
8 Stalin Museum, Gori, Republic of Georgia
9 Hugh Lunghi Collection
10 Photographs by the author/Author’s own collection
11 Victoria Ivleva-Yorke
List of Characters
Joseph Stalin, born Djugashvili, known as “Soso” and “Koba.” Secretary of Bolshevik Party 1922–1953 and Premier 1941–1953. Marshal. Generalissimo
Keke Djugashvili, Stalin’s mother
Kato Svanidze, Stalin’s first wife
Yakov Djugashvili, son of Stalin’s first marriage to Kato Svanidze. Captured by Germans
Nadya Alliluyeva, Stalin’s second wife
Vasily Stalin, Stalin’s son by Nadya Alliluyeva, pilot, General
Svetlana Stalin, now known as Alliluyeva, Stalin’s daughter
Artyom Sergeev, Stalin and Nadya’s adopted son
Sergei Alliluyev, Nadya’s father
Olga Alliluyeva, Nadya’s mother
Pavel Alliluyev, Nadya’s brother, Red Army Commissar married to
Zhenya Alliluyeva, Nadya’s sister-in-law, actress, mother of Kira
Alyosha Svanidze, brother of Kato, Georgian, Stalin’s brother-in-law, banking official married to
Maria Svanidze, diarist, Jewish Georgian opera singer
Stanislas Redens, Nadya’s brother-in-law, secret policeman, married to
Anna Redens, Nadya’s elder sister
Victor Abakumov, secret policeman, head of Smersh, MGB Minister
Andrei Andreyev, Politburo member, CC (Central Committee) Secretary, married to
Dora Khazan, Nadya’s best friend, Deputy Textiles Minister, mother of Natasha Andreyeva
Lavrenti Beria, “Uncle Lara,” secret policeman, NKVD boss, Politburo member in charge of nuclear bomb, married to
Nina Beria, scientist, Stalin treated her “like a daughter”; mother of
Sergo Beria, scientist, married to
Martha Peshkova Beria, granddaughter of Gorky, daughter-in-law of Beria
Semyon Budyonny, cavalryman, Marshal, one of the Tsaritsyn Group
Nikolai Bulganin, “the Plumber,” Chekist, Mayor of Moscow, Politburo member, Defence Minister, heir apparent
Candide Charkviani, Georgian Party chief and Stalin’s confidant
Semyon Ignatiev, MGB Minister, master of the Doctors’ Plot
Lazar Kaganovich, “Iron Lazar” and “the Locomotive,” Jewish Old Bolshevik, Stalin’s deputy early 1930s, Railways chief, Politburo member
Mikhail Kalinin, “Papa,” the “Village Elder,” Soviet President, peasant/ worker
Nikita Khrushchev, Moscow, then Ukrainian First Secretary, Politburo member
Sergei Kirov, Leningrad chief, CC (Central Committee) Secretary, Politburo member and Stalin’s close friend
Valerian Kuibyshev, economic chief and poet, Politburo member
Alexei (A. A.) Kuznetsov, Zhdanov’s deputy in Leningrad; post–World War II, CC (Central Committee) Secretary and curator of MGB, Stalin’s heir apparent as Secretary
Nestor Lakoba, Abkhazian boss
Georgi Malenkov, nicknamed “Melanie” or “Malanya,” CC (Central Committee) Secretary, allied to Beria
Lev Mekhlis, “the Gloomy Demon” and “Shark,” Jewish, Stalin’s secretary, then Pravda editor, political chief of Red Army
Akaki Mgeladze, Abkhazian, then Georgian boss; Stalin called him “Wolf”
Anastas Mikoyan, Armenian Old Bolshevik, Politburo member, Trade and Supply Minister
Vyacheslav Molotov, known as “Iron-Arse” and “our Vecha,” Politburo member, Premier, Foreign Minister, married to
Polina Molotova née Karpovskaya, known as Comrade Zhemchuzhina, “the Pearl,” Jewish, Fishery Commissar, perfume boss
Grigory Ordzhonikidze, known as Comrade Sergo and as “Stalin’s Arse,” Politburo member, Heavy Industry chief
Karl Pauker, ex-barber of Budapest Opera, Stalin’s bodyguard and head of Security
Alexander Poskrebyshev, ex-medical orderly, Stalin’s chef de cabinet , married to
Bronka Metalikova Poskrebysheva, doctor, Jewish
Mikhail Riumin, “Little Misha,” “the Midget,” MGB Deputy Minister and manager of the Doctors’ Plot
Nikolai Vlasik, Stalin’s bodyguard and head of Guards Directorate
Klim Voroshilov, First Marshal, Politburo member, Defence Commissar, veteran of Tsaritsyn, married to
Ekaterina Voroshilova, diarist
Nikolai Voznesensky, Leningrad economist, Politburo member, Deputy Premier, Stalin’s anointed heir as Premier
Genrikh Yagoda, NKVD chief, Jewish, in love with Timosha Gorky
Abel Yenukidze, “Uncle Abel,” Secretary of Central Executive Committee, Georgian, bon viveur, Nadya’s godfather
Nikolai Yezhov, “Blackberry” or “Kolya,” NKVD boss, married to
Yevgenia Yezhova, editor, socialite, Jewess
Andrei Zhdanov, “the Pianist,” Politburo member, Leningrad boss, CC (Central Committee) Secretary, Naval chief, Stalin’s friend and heir apparent, father of
Yury Zhdanov, CC (Central Committee) Science Department chief, married Svetlana Stalin
Grigory Kulik, Marshal, Artillery chief, womaniser and bungler, veteran of Tsaritsyn
Boris Shaposhnikov, Marshal, Chief of Staff, Stalin’s favourite staff officer
Semyon Timoshenko, Marshal, victor of Finland, Defence Commissar, veteran of Tsaritsyn; his daughter married Vasily Stalin
Alexander Vasilevsky, Marshal, Chief of Staff, priest’s son
Georgi Zhukov, Marshal, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Stalin’s best general
Nikolai Bukharin, “darling of the Party,” “Bukharchik,” theorist, Politburo member, Stalin’s co-ruler 1925–29, friend of Nadya, Rightist, chief defendant in last show trial
Lev Kamenev, Leftist Politburo member, defeated Trotsky with Stalin, with whom ruled 1924–25, Jewish. Defendant in first show trial
Alexei Rykov, “Rykvodka.” Rightist Politburo member, Premier and co-ruler with Stalin and Bukharin 1925–28. Defendant in last show trial
Leon Trotsky, genius of the Revolution, Jewish, War Commissar and creator of Red Army, “operetta commander” in Stalin’s words
Grigory Zinoviev, Leftist Politburo member, Leningrad boss, Jewish. Triumvirate with Stalin and Kamenev 1924–25. Defendant in first show trial
Anna Akhmatova, poet; “harlot-nun,” said Zhdanov
Isaac Babel, author of Red Cavalry and friend of Eisenstein, Mandelstam