He is such a sinister and controversial figure of the twentieth century that even his actual date of birth is uncertain. And the indicated date is only officially registered. But I want to remember not about him, but about his double, with whom I had the opportunity to communicate at the end of the last century. And I often half-jokingly told my friends and acquaintances that I personally knew Comrade Stalin.

Georgy Sahakyan - for some time headed the Theater of Doubles in Moscow, but unlike the “Lenins”, “Brezhnevs” and other “Yeltsins”, he stood somewhat apart. Because, after all, he was an actor who embodied the image of the Leader in Soviet and later Russian films. True, after the collapse of the USSR, he began to play Stalin mainly in comedies. In addition, he became a frequent guest at various events. They began to invite him, for a fee, to presentations, TV shows, and even to a rich wedding as the imprisoned father of... peoples.

Even in his youth, when he grew a mustache, Georgy noticed his resemblance to the leader of the USSR. And even during the life of the dictator, despite such a dangerous similarity (“Why do we need two Stalins? Shoot!”), he even began to jokingly portray Joseph Vissarionovich in companies.

“My friends told me, ‘Show me Georgiy...’,” Sahakyan told me. – I stood up, took a stance and began: “As the Russian writer Gogol said...” I did quite well. It’s strange, but no one reported on me at that time. But to be honest, I didn’t portray Stalin mockingly, but, on the contrary, I was proud of my resemblance to him. I even began to become interested in his personality and study his activities.

For many years, the Armenian Sahakyan worked in Azerbaijan as a chief engineer. He often traveled around the Soviet Union on business trips. And one day, in some hotel in Grozny (Chechnya), Moscow filmmakers noticed him and took his phone number just in case. Sahakyan soon forgot about this incident, but one day he received a call from Moscow: he was invited to play Stalin in the film “Tehran -43” about the meeting of the Big Three - Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill during the war. Sahakyan took a vacation and went to Moscow, not suspecting how this incident in the 53rd year of his life would change his entire destiny.

When the director of the film, Vladimir Naumov, saw him, he admired how well the makeup was chosen and it was not even clear that it was a wig. But the fact is that Sahakyan was not even put on makeup; he came to the director straight from the train. And today he is the only actor in the world who played Stalin without makeup.

After the release of the film, Sahakyan began to vying with invitations to play the Leader of all times and peoples. For ten years he combined his work as an engineer with work in cinema. During Perestroika, when an armed conflict arose in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenians and Azerbaijanis killed each other, Sahakyan had to flee from Baku. As a refugee, he settled in Moscow and, thanks to the Union of Cinematographers, received a room, albeit... in a women's dormitory.

Throughout his life, Georgy Sahakyan played Stalin in 36 films, not only in the Union, but also abroad. For example, in China, in the film about Mao Zedong. You could say Stalin became his second profession. He even got into the Book of Records. The previous record holder was actor Mikhail Gelovani, who played the leader in 15 films during Stalin’s lifetime.

“Iosif Vissarionovich himself was short, ugly, and his face was covered with pockmarks,” said Sahakyan. – Gelovani was a tall, handsome Georgian. I remember him from films from childhood. True, as I later found out, he didn’t look like Stalin at all and it took him five hours to make up. Moreover, he played the leader without the characteristic Georgian accent. Once at a Kremlin reception, Joseph Vissarionovich asked why? “But I’m not playing you,” Gelovani discouraged with his answer. “Who?” the leader was surprised. “Your state function!” Stalin liked the answer.

Sahakyan was a non-smoker all his life and first tried smoking on the set when he portrayed a leader smoking a pipe. Having swallowed smoke for the first time, he almost fainted. Art requires sacrifice!

There was also an interesting incident at Mosfilm. An episode with the participation of Stalin-Sahakyan was being filmed in the pavilion. And very inopportunely, a fire inspector appeared and began to draw up a report on the violation of safety regulations.

The persuasion of the director and group director did not help. Then the “Generalissimo” intervened. Smoking a pipe, he sternly addressed the fireman: “Dear, don’t interfere with our work. You have ruined an expensive, imported film. Tear up this act and go about your business!” The fireman turned pale and backed away: “Forgive me, Comrade Stalin, it’s not my fault.” He tore up the document and quickly left the premises. This incident struck the film crew so much that the director even described it in his memoirs.

The inspector understood that I was not a real dictator, but he was still scared. He was of the old generation and still remembered Stalin's repressions. What is the power of art! Or the power of fear of the leader of all times and peoples.

Sahakyan also collected anecdotes about his prototype: Once Stalin asked Lenin: How are you? “It’s bad, I’ll die soon.” “Then give power to me!” “I can’t, Comrade Stalin, the people will not follow you.” “Then, Comrade Lenin, he will follow you!”

Over the years I have never had a negative attitude towards me. Even drunk people greeted me respectfully. I also heard this: “All my relatives died in Stalin’s camps. But I’m not offended by you.” They told me: “We need a ruler like Stalin, but as kind as you.” If I were a real Stalin, I would also have camps. But... only tourist ones!”

Gelovani, after playing Stalin, disappeared as an actor because they stopped offering him other roles, because they were all of lesser importance: God forbid he play a role less significant than the role of the Leader, not to mention a negative role. And if Gelovani played Stalin, so to speak, loyally, then, in contrast to him, Sahakyan’s range is much wider - from officialdom to parody. After the collapse of the union, Georgy Sahakyan became even more in demand in cinema and even joked: “Following the famous slogan “Thank you to Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood!” I can exclaim: “Thank you to Comrade Stalin for my happy old age!” And I am grateful to fate that either I look like Stalin, or he looks like me,” Sahakyan jokes.

However, Sahakyan also became an actor of one role and is considered Stalin number 1 in Russian cinema. One day he was offered the role of a market trader, but with Caucasian pride he refused, asserting in a conversation with me that even for a million he would not agree to betray the familiar image of the Leader.

How do you yourself assess Stalin? – I once asked Sahakyan.

I will answer you in the words of Churchill: “Stalin was an unusually complex personality. He created and subjugated a huge empire. This was a man who destroyed his enemies with the hands of his own enemies. Stalin was the greatest unparalleled dictator who took Russia with a plow and left it with atomic weapons.”

Blitz interview with Stalin

I jokingly asked Sahakyan to answer several questions in the guise of Stalin. He put on the generalissimo's uniform (which, by the way, was sewn for him by the Russian Ministry of Defense), pulled his cap down and lit a pipe.

How do you, Comrade Stalin, feel about the fact that you were taken out of the mausoleum?

I'm tired of lying next to Lenin. Mausoleum, this is not a hostel!

How did you perceive the fact that Stalingrad was renamed the city of Volgograd?

When the name was changed, I sent a telegram to the Kremlin: “I agree with the renaming. Joseph Volgin.

Joseph Vissarionovich, since we are drinking your favorite wine “Kindzmarauli”, can you say a toast?

I would like to wish that you could say after me: “Life has become better! Life has become more fun!” (Ya. Complete works. Volume 13. Page 135.)

The actor Gelovani became so accustomed to the role of the leader that he even died on Stalin’s birthday on December 21. When I was writing this article and decided to call Sahakyan again, I was saddened to learn that Georgy Markarovich died on July 4 of this year, that is, on the anniversary year of Comrade Stalin.

December 21 is the official date of birth of Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Stalin) (1879) and Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky (1896).

Scan from the newspaper "Udarnik Kuzbass". Congratulations to Comrade Stalin on his sixtieth birthday.

For reference: Happy birthday in the Soviet press comrade. Stalin was not congratulated every year, but only in 1929, 1939 and 1949. In other years, this day was treated as an ordinary day in the newspapers and there were no congratulations to the leader on his birthday. The cult of personality, however.

..................

But in his youth, young Joseph Dzhugashvili wrote poetry...

The famous Georgian poet and revolutionary democrat Ilya Chavchavadze (1837-1907), who published the newspaper “Iveria” in Tiflis, in 1895 published five poems he liked by the then unknown 16-year-old Joseph Dzhugashvili. The poems were about awakening the beauty of nature and the Motherland; about the poet’s hopes for life, despite all its hardships, about a lyrical conversation with the moon; about the people's suffering and the appointment of a singer and poet in Georgia; about the tragedy of a man who brought good to people, and about human ingratitude that destroyed this man; and, finally, about how old age comes and how the old man does not want to surrender to the hands of death. These poems amazed the classic of Georgian literature Ilya Chavchavadze. So on June 14, 1895, in issue No. 123 of the Iveria newspaper, the first poem by I.V. Stalin appeared, which later became known as “Dila” (“Morning”). It was this poem that in 1912, a prominent person in Georgia, Jacob Gogebashvili, included in the textbook " Mother tongue" ("Deda ena") for primary grades:

The wind smells of violets,
The grass glows with dew,
Everything around is waking up
Lit up with roses.

And the singer from under the cloud
Everything is livelier and sweeter,
Nightingale endlessly
Sharing joy with the world:

"How you make me happy, Motherland,
Beauty with your rainbow,
So everyone works
I must please my homeland."

This poem was written in 1948 Georgian language was published in Tbilisi as a separate well-illustrated book in color with a circulation of 10,100 copies at a price of 7 rubles per book.
Nikolai Dobryukha (translated the poem “Morning” into Russian), laureate of the Moscow Komsomol literary prize, spoke about this.
Another translator of Joseph Dzhugashvili’s poems, Lev Kotyukov, wrote several years ago in the Moscow newspaper “Zavtra”:
“In their youth, many dream of becoming poets, but, having lost their passion in the desire to be published and become famous, they resign themselves to defeat - and in their mature years they remember their home-grown verses with a smile. Joseph Dzhugashvili was not a failed poet, he did not dream of poetic recognition: he was a poet , was recognized and noted as a poet at the dawn of his foggy youth. Georgian newspapers and magazines willingly provided their pages to him. So why does the proud, ambitious young Dzhugashvili not follow his recognition? Why, having been born a poet and like Arthur Rimbaud, having become famous at the very beginning, goes into revolution and forgets about himself as a poet until the end of his days? Let's try to answer this as best we can.
The end of the 19th century in Russia was marked by the rapid development of capitalism. The 1880-90s were truly anti-poetic times. Forgetting about eternity, people turned time into money, despising poetry, they did business. This fact speaks for itself: the brilliant book “Evening Lights” by Afanasy Fet (who once served as an officer in Novogeorgievsk, now flooded by the Kremenchug reservoir), published by the author at his own expense, was practically not sold out. Let us recall the then popular disparaging statement about the poetry of Leo Tolstoy: “Writing poetry is like dancing behind a plow...”
Young, wise beyond his years, Joseph Dzhugashvili knew perfectly well that the poetic path promises not only glory, but also humiliation, and did not want to put up with this, because since childhood he was more than full of bitter knowledge. He leaves poetry.
In 1949, on the initiative of L.P. Beria, an attempt was made, secretly from Stalin, to publish poems in gift format in Russian for his 70th birthday. For this purpose, under the strictest secrecy, the best poets-translators were brought in, among whom were the future Nobel Prize winner in literature Boris Pasternak, author of the famous novel “Doctor Zhivago” and Arseny Tarkovsky (father of the world famous film director who directed the films “Ivan’s Childhood”, “Andrei Rublev", "Solaris", "Mirror", "Nostalgia" by Andrei Tarkovsky). Having become acquainted with the nameless interlinear translations, without knowing their authorship, one of the masters of poetic translation innocently said: “They are up for the Stalin Prize of the first degree...”
The poetic activity of Joseph Dzhugashvili lasted only four years - from 1893 to 1896. The manuscripts of his poems are irretrievably (?) lost, the search for his lifetime publications is limited for objective reasons. Today we are publishing several poems by a poet undeservedly forgotten by us and ourselves.

* *
He walked from house to house,
Knocked on strangers' doors.
Under the old oak panduri
A simple motive sounded.

In his tune and in his song,
Like a ray of sunshine, pure
Lived great truth -
Divine dream.

Hearts turned to stone
A lonely chant woke me up.
A flame dormant in the darkness
Soared higher than the trees.

But people who have forgotten God
Keeping darkness in the heart,
I'll use poison instead of wine
They poured it into his cup.
They told him: “Damn you!
Drink the cup to the bottom!..
And your song is alien to us,
And your truth is not needed! "

* *
When the moon shines
Suddenly the world below lights up,
And her shadow beyond the distant distance
It emits blue into the air.

When above the serene grove
The nightingale soars with song,
And the salamuri voice is gentle
It sounds all night in my soul.

When the oppressive darkness of the abyss
He will disperse in his native land.
And to the heart with a heavenly voice
He will give his message of hope.

I know that this hope
my soul is forever pure.
The soul of the poet strives upward
And beauty matures in the heart.

Float majestically in space
Above the hidden abyss of the earth
Spread a silver glow
The fog is gloomy, the darkness is thick.

Bow down to the ground lying in your sleep,
Bow down with a gentle smile.
Sing a lullaby to Kazbek,
whose ice, glowing, strives upward.

But know for sure who was once
Humiliated and thrown into dust,
Still on par with Mtatsminda
And it will revive faith in hearts.

Soar on the dark sky!
Play with rays and kings...
And the land born with quiet light,
Illuminate with heavenly light.

I will open my whole soul, I will open myself,
I will extend my hand to you!..
Shine, Moon - the soul of the Universe,
Shine on, Moon, in my destiny.

To the poet, singer of peasant labor, Prince Rafael Eristavi

Once upon a time the oppression of the peasant share
You, singer, were shocked to tears.
But, God, how much evil and pain
Since then I had a chance to see it.

But protected by my homeland all my life,
You haven't forgotten your songs.
One with her dream all my life,
You are young again with love.

Singer of the Fatherland works hard
The people will also reward.
The seed has already taken root
And a difficult harvest is coming.

It’s not for nothing that people like Eristavi
My beloved region gave birth.
And may you have earthly glory!..
You conquered eternity with a song.

Translated from Georgian by L. Kotyukov.

Stalin

18

Russian Tsar Joseph Stalin

chervonec_001: Interesting Facts about Stalin:

Joseph Vissarionovich studied with one of the great occultists of his time - Gurdjieff, who said that with such a horoscope he would never become a leader. And Stalin changed his date of birth from December 18 to December 21.

Twenty-year-old Stalin's first official place of work was the Tiflis Observatory, where he was responsible for recording precipitation and atmospheric pressure.

He hated sex scenes in movies - it drove him crazy.

He loved to sing Russian folk songs during feasts.

He hated atheistic literature and called it “anti-religious waste paper.”

He spoke Georgian, Russian, ancient Greek, and also knew Church Slavonic well from seminary. According to some researchers, he knew English and German languages, the notes he left in the books were in Hungarian and French.

Understood Armenian and Ossetian languages. Trotsky asserted in one of his interviews that “Stalin does not know foreign languages, no foreign life.”

He wrote documents, letters, and other papers extremely competently, which was noted by many witnesses.

Due to a childhood hand injury, he was declared unfit for military service in 1916.

I drank only Tsinandali and Teliani wines. Sometimes he drank cognac, but didn’t drink vodka at all.

Stalin loved to joke Everyday life. Loved to draw.

Most recreation parks in the USSR were built on Stalin's initiative.

He did not support Lenin’s famous “April Theses” (in particular, his idea of ​​​​transforming the bourgeois-democratic revolution into a socialist revolution), but he quickly changed his mind and supported Ilyich on issues of land, war and socialist revolution.

It was Stalin who was authorized to negotiate the surrender of the famous Kshesinskaya mansion, as well as negotiations with the soldiers and sailors of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

According to security officers, Stalin never took a bath - he washed himself in the shower, sitting in the bathtub on a special hanging bench.

During his first 10 years at the top of the party, Stalin asked for resignation three times.

In 1941, the Germans captured Stalin's eldest son Yakov. They firmly believed that they would be able to exchange the son of the leader of the USSR for the German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus. Stalin refused to negotiate with them.

At the 1945 Victory Parade, the wounded mine-detecting dog Dzhulbars, on Stalin's orders, was carried across Red Square on his overcoat.

During the war, Vasily Stalin was nominated for the rank of general 12 times, but Stalin canceled the nomination each time.

A list of gifts given to him on his 70th birthday was published in newspapers from December 1949 to March 1953.

Twice recognized by the American magazine “Times” as Person of the Year. The first time on January 1, 1940, for the fact that he “concluded a non-aggression pact with Hitler and began Soviet-Finnish war, as a result of which he changed the balance of power on the world political stage.” In January 1943, he was named “man of the year” again by the same magazine.

On the day of Stalin's death, national mourning was declared in Israel.

Before the start of industrialization, the technical level of our country was 4 times lower than the level of England, 5 times lower than Germany, 10 times lower than the USA.

During the years of the first (1929–1932) and second (1933–1937) five-year plans, many new industries emerged, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemistry, energy, and mechanical engineering made great strides.

The gross output of the entire industry of the USSR in 1937 increased almost 4 times compared to 1929, and if we compare 1913 and the pre-war year, then in mechanical engineering and metalworking the gross output increased 35 times.

During the pre-war five-year plans, about 9 thousand large industrial enterprises were built, a new powerful industrial base was created in the east of the country, which was so useful to us during the Great Patriotic War.

In general, the USSR came out on top in Europe and second in the world in terms of industrial production volume and technical equipment of newly built enterprises.

P.S.
By the way, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev also had a birthday on the 19th. I believe that a person also deserves Respect.

Reverse examples of the country's leaders - Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Khrushchev

Sources -

Foreigners, oddly enough, are more loyal. Thus, the British writer and physicist Charles SNOW, after working in the archives, wrote about Stalin: “He was much more educated than any of the statesmen of his time. Literally an example of subtle English humor.”
No one has ever looked at the “father of nations” from such a perspective. Although there are many examples of his jokes with double or even triple bottoms.

* Once upon a time Stalin it was not the head of the Union of Writers of the USSR who came at his call Fadeev, and his deputy Tikhonov.
- Where is Fadeev? - Stalin asked.
- Comrade Fadeev went hunting and has not returned yet.
- We have a friend Nikolay Shvernik also loves to hunt. But he leaves on Saturday, gets drunk on Sunday, and goes to work on Monday.
After the second similar “hunt” of Fadeev, Stalin directly asked him where he was disappearing.
“I was on a drinking binge,” he answered with Bolshevik directness.
- How many days does it usually last for you?
- Ten days, Comrade Stalin.
- Can’t you, as a communist, hold this event for three or four days?

* In the first months after the end of the war, Major General Alexey Sidnev reported to Stalin on the state of affairs. Stalin looked very pleased and nodded twice in approval. Having finished his report, the military commander hesitated. Stalin asked:
- Do you want to say anything else?
- Yes, I have a personal question. In Germany, I selected some things that interested me, but they were detained at the checkpoint. If possible, I would ask you to return them to me.
- It's possible. Write a report, I will impose a resolution.
The Major General pulled out a prepared report from his pocket. Stalin imposed the resolution. The petitioner began to thank him warmly.
“There is no need for gratitude,” Stalin remarked.
After reading the resolution written on the report: “Give the major his junk back. I. Stalin,” the general turned to the Supreme Commander:
- There is a typo here, Comrade Stalin. I'm not a major, but a major general.
“No, everything is correct here,” Stalin assured him.

* Artist Mikhail Gelovani, who played the role of Stalin in pre-war historical-revolutionary films, once asked to live at Stalin’s dacha near Lake Ritsa. When the leader was informed about this, he asked:
- Why does Gelovani want to live on Ritsa?
- Wants to get used to your image.
- Then let him start with the Turukhansk exile.

* Stalin went with the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia Mgeladze along the alleys of the Kuntsevo dacha and treated him to lemons, which he grew himself in his lemon garden:
- Try it, you grew up here, near Moscow! And so several times between conversations on other topics:
- Try them, good lemons! Finally it dawned on the interlocutor:
- Comrade Stalin, I promise you that in seven years Georgia will provide the country with lemons, and we will not import them from abroad.
- Thank God, I guessed it!

* Founder of the Moscow Art Theater - Konstantin Stanislavsky was known for the fact that he could not understand for himself the system of relationships under Soviet power. Once Stanislavsky sat in the same box with Stalin, who was a frequent visitor to the Moscow Art Theater. Looking through the repertoire, the leader pointed his finger at the piece of paper:
- Why haven’t we seen a writer in the “Days of the Turbins” repertoire for a long time? Bulgakov? Stanislavsky clasped his hands, put his finger to his lips, and then whispered into the “Father of Nations” ear, pointing his finger at the ceiling:
- They forbade it! Only this is a terrible secret!
Having laughed to his heart's content, Stalin seriously assured:
- They will allow it! I'll agree.
Another time, when Stalin arrived at a performance, Stanislavsky met him and, holding out his hand, said: "Alekseev", saying your real name.
- Dzhugashvili“, Stalin answered and walked to his chair.

* Before the war, a decree was issued on punishment for being late for work for more than 20 minutes. The day after its release Vasily Kachalov I was an hour late at the Moscow Art Theater. Panic arose in the theater, and the theater director asked Stalin for instructions. The answer came in the following form: “For failure to inform the People’s Artist of the USSR Comrade. Kachalov’s decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to severely reprimand the director of the Moscow Art Theater.”

* December 1943 Evening in the Kremlin after the approval of the USSR Anthem. To the right and left of Stalin are the authors of the words: Gabriel El-Registan And Sergey Mikhalkov. The first persistently tried several times to put ham on the leader’s plate. The reaction was this:
- Don't look after me! I am the master here, and you are the guest.
The second respectfully listened to the toasts and conscientiously emptied the glasses of wine. The observant Stalin gently reprimanded him:
- No need to drink to the bottom. Otherwise I won’t be interested in talking to you.

The bust of the Generalissimo in a telephone booth, made by Vitaly KOMAR and Alexander MELAMID, is considered the main attraction of the red light district of The Hague. Photo: votrube.ru

*During one of the performances Kozlovsky in the Kremlin, members of the Politburo began to call him for an encore and offer him to perform something: “Sing an aria... Sing a romance...”
“You can’t encroach on the artist’s freedom,” Stalin intervened. Comrade Kozlovsky wants to sing “I remember wonderful moment", and you are distracted.

* Immediately after the war, Marshal Rokossovsky built himself a dacha, everyone envied him. And he invited the entire Politburo and all General base to wash... Stalin also arrived. We walked all night, sang songs, remembered the war. In the morning everyone says goodbye, then Stalin says to him:
- Thank you very much, Comrade Rokossovsky, you built a good children's holiday home.
That same day the house was filled with orphans.

* In 1939, watching the film “The Train Goes East.” The film is not so hot: a train is traveling, constantly stopping at various stations and all the passengers joyfully sing a song at each station.
- What station is this? - Stalin asked.
“Demyanovka,” answered the Minister of Cinematography responsible for the screening. Ivan Bolshakov.
“This is where I’ll get off,” said Stalin and left the hall.

* A candidacy for the post of Minister of Coal Industry was discussed.
They offered the director of one of the mines Zasyadko. Someone objected:
- Everything is fine, but he abuses alcohol!
“Invite him to me,” said Stalin.
Zasyadko came. Stalin began to talk to him and offered him a drink.
“With pleasure,” said Zasyadko, pouring a glass of vodka. - To your health, Comrade Stalin! - He drank and continued the conversation.
Stalin took a sip and, watching carefully, offered a second drink. Zasyadko - drink a second glass, and not in either eye. Stalin suggested a third, but his interlocutor pushed his glass aside and said:
- Zasyadko knows when to stop.
We talked. At a Politburo meeting, when the proposed candidate’s alcohol abuse was again announced, Stalin, walking around with a pipe, said:
- Zasyadko knows when to stop!
Since then, Zasyadko headed for many years coal industry…

* When the great teacher and leader of the peoples received the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne in the Kremlin Sergius Stragorodsky, he came to the meeting in secular dress, and not in episcopal vestments. The former seminary student puffed on his pipe and asked:
-Are you afraid of me, but not of Him?

Photo: moyaezhva.rf

* Former People's Commissar of Armaments Boris Vannikov At the beginning of the war, he was suddenly released from prison, brought to Stalin, who appointed him People's Commissar of Ammunition. Vannikov said:
- Tomorrow I will report to the People's Commissariat, yesterday's prisoner. What authority will I have among my subordinates?
“We will take care of your authority,” Stalin replied. - Found time to sit!
In the morning, when Vannikov arrived at work, there was Pravda on his desk with a Decree awarding him the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

* Academician Alexander Bogomolets claimed that a person can live up to 150 years. Stalin closely monitored his work and gave him an institute for this work. When the academician died in 1946 at the age of 65, he said: “What a swindler, he deceived everyone!”

* On his trips, Stalin was often accompanied by a security guard Tukov. He sat in the front seat next to the driver and had a habit of falling asleep on the way. One of the Politburo members, riding with Stalin in the back seat, remarked:
- Comrade Stalin, I don’t understand which of you is protecting whom?
“What is that,” answered Joseph Vissarionovich, “he also put his pistol in my raincoat - take it, just in case!”

*As a result offensive operation Soviet troops came out to Baltic Sea, and the commander is a general Baghramyan decided to please Stalin by sending him a bottle of Baltic water. But while this bottle reached the Kremlin, the Germans managed to recapture the bridgehead and push our troops from the coast. Stalin already knew about this and, when he was handed the bottle, he turned it in his hands for a few seconds, after which he returned it to the adjutant and said:
- Give it back to Bagramyan, tell him to pour it out where he took it.

* When developing the Pobeda car, it was planned that the name of the car would be “Motherland”. Having learned about this, Stalin ironically asked: “Well, how much will we have a Motherland?” The name of the car was immediately changed.

* During the negotiations there were disputes about post-war borders, and Churchill said:
- But Lviv has never been a Russian city!
“But there was Warsaw,” Stalin objected.
When they decided what to do with the German navy, Stalin proposed dividing it and Churchill scuttling it.
“I agree,” Stalin nodded. - You will flood your half.

* Once, at a meeting with scientists, Stalin asked one of the meteorologists present what their percentage of forecast accuracy was.
- Forty percent, Comrade Stalin.
- And you say the opposite, and then you will have sixty percent.

Returned the Christmas tree from exile.

Nicholas II banned the Christmas tree in 1915. The Tsar considered that it was not good for a Russian person to support the German, that is, enemy, tradition. The Bolsheviks initially canceled the decree, but soon recognized the holiday as a bourgeois relic and also crossed out New Year from red calendar dates.

The forest beauty was rehabilitated only in 1935. Stalin, who never stopped celebrating the New Year with a lavish feast, saw great propaganda potential in the Christmas tree and ordered the tradition to be returned.
It turned out, however, that during the years without the holiday, the production of toys in the country came to naught. We had to restore and master the production of ideologically consistent jewelry. So a real, beautiful and elegant New Year tree came to the holiday only at the end of 1936. A 15-meter tree was installed in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions - as a symbol of the fact that life has become better, life has become more fun. And they angrily branded those who “glorified wonderful children’s entertainment as a bourgeois undertaking.”
Along with the return of the Christmas tree, Stalin's New Year's receptions in the Kremlin, which were already held on a grand scale, turned into real feasts. The tables were laden with food and alcohol, and the leader made sure that the guests did not miss a single toast. Then he began inviting musicians and dancers to the celebration.

In bronze and granite.

IN Soviet times busts and statues of the Generalissimo adorned each locality great country - in the USSR there were about 6 thousand monuments to the leader. Only a few have survived to our times. But an amazing trend: in last years the monumental STALIN returns to the pedestal again.

* The leader began to be immortalized in stone, granite and bronze during his lifetime - the first monument by the sculptor Kharlamov appeared in 1929 in Moscow, after which monument mania swept the entire country. In the 30s Stalin- the giant soared to a height of 25 m at the All-Russian Agricultural Exhibition (VDNKh). The leader of all times and peoples was often depicted in company with Lenin- famous composition of Ukrainian sculptors Belostotsky, Pivovarova And Friedman stood in Gorki and served as a model for similar sculptures. Later, the figure of Stalin was removed, and the lonely Ilyich was bending over in an absurd pose, addressing an unknown person.
* In 1952, the largest Stalin on the planet appeared at the entrance to the Volga-Don Canal - 54 m with a pedestal. The Generalissimo stood over the Volga until 1961, and in 1973 Lenin was installed in his place.
* Foreign Stalins were also amazing in scale. In the mid-50s in Prague, a sculptural group depicting Joseph Vissarionovich, followed by eight people, was carved out of a huge boulder. Came to the opening Khrushchev, who had already undertaken to expose the personality cult of his predecessor. Presenting the Order of Lenin to the creators of the monument, Nikita Sergeevich muttered: “Too big. And it's too late." In 1962, the monument in Prague was blown up.
* But today the rating of the “father of nations” is steadily growing - almost half of the participants in all kinds of sociological studies note his positive role in the history of the country. It is noteworthy that in 2008, when the “Name of Russia” poll was conducted, it was Stalin who received the majority of votes. This result did not seem politically correct to the organizers, and the leader was “replaced” with a neutral one Pushkin.
* Nevertheless, people's love for Stalin seeks a way out in the construction of new monuments to the “father of nations” or in the search and restoration of old ones. True, today's Joseph Vissarionovich does not stand in central squares, but in inconspicuous public gardens, where he “cherishes” the hope of someday emerging from the darkness again.

On December 21, the communists laid flowers at the graves of I.V. Stalin and F.E. Dzerzhinsky at the Kremlin wall. At the end of the ceremony, Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Vladimir Kashin spoke to journalists

“We have gathered here to honor the memory of the great fighters who gave their lives for Soviet power, for the Soviet Union,” said Vladimir Kashin. – Today is the birthday of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin. He is an outstanding world-class political and statesman. Everything is connected with Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin. Yesterday we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Cheka. The decision to create it was signed by V.I. Lenin at a meeting in December 1917. J.V. Stalin was also present.

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“These unique leaders of the revolution,” continued Vladimir Kashin, “performed an unprecedented feat that still shines brightly for all of us today. This is especially noticeable in the year of the 100th anniversary of the Great October Revolution. You see how many flowers were laid at the grave of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin today. The industrialization of our country is associated with his name. A little over eighteen years after civil war the devastation was eliminated. And we met fascist hordes with good weapons, with a well-trained army. Yes, the first months of the war were unsuccessful because there was a treacherous attack and the German army was very powerful. But then we stood to death. And again the role of the outstanding creator I.V. Stalin and his talent were fully demonstrated. The Victory Banner over the Reichstag, the creation of the UN, the signing of the Warsaw Pact, the establishment of socialism in many countries of the world - these great achievements are also associated with the names of Lenin and Stalin.”

“Today we are proud of the great Soviet Union,” emphasized Vladimir Kashin. – After the war, the destroyed economy was quickly restored. Then we made a breakthrough that the capitalist world had never even dreamed of. It happened in all directions: in industry, in the nuclear project, and in virgin lands. We managed to implement Stalin's plan for the transformation of nature, when millions of trees were planted, especially in the dry steppe zones. Even today they are bearers of fertility and large harvests.”

“If you look at our village, it has developed at a powerful pace. Both life and income in rural areas were close to income in the economy as a whole. And only betrayal, only the hatred of the international capitalist clan stopped this progress,” noted the deputy chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

“The Communist Party today is the heir to the great ideas of socialism, the ideas of Lenin and Stalin,” emphasized Vladimir Kashin. “And we are proud to be their followers.” The communists are doing everything to raise Russia from its knees, to revive production, industry, Agriculture. Secure your borders, revive the army, end corruption and a cynical attitude towards our people.”

“We once again want to bow to the great people of the planet, the founders of our state, and say that the absolute majority of the people remember these achievements and will never forget them,” Vladimir Kashin concluded.

The ceremony was attended by Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation N.N. Ivanov, Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation D.G. Novikov, member of the Presidium of the Communist Party Central Committee V.F. Rashkin, Secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee P.S. Dorokhin, head of the apparatus of the Communist Party faction in the State Duma N.A. Ostanina, head of the press service of the Communist Party Central Committee A.A. Yushchenko, communists, Komsomol members, party supporters.