Yakov Dzhugashvili
Yakov Iosifovich Dzhugashvili (Georgian: იაკობ ჯუღაშვილი, Russian: Яков Иосифович Джугашвили) (1907 - April 14,1943) was one of Joseph Stalin's three known children, along with Svetlana Alliluyeva and Vasily Dzhugashvili. Dzhugashvili was the son of Stalin's first wife, Ekaterina Svanidze.
Yakov was born in the village of Borji (near Kutaisi) in Georgia, then part of Imperial Russia. Until the age of fourteen, Yakov was raised by his aunt in Tbilisi. In 1921, Yakov’s uncle Alexander Svanidze urged him to leave for Moscow to acquire a higher education. Yakov only spoke Georgian and after his arrival in Moscow he commenced with learning the Russian language, aiming to apply for University studies.
Yakov and his father Stalin never got along. Allegedly once Stalin referred to Yakov as a "mere cobbler." Later according to Yakov's stepmother Nadezhda Alliluyeva she saw a young girl running away from their Moscow dacha in tears. When she entered she saw a despairing Yakov looking near faint in the room. He ran immediately to his bedroom. It turned out that the girl was Yakov's fiancee and when they told Stalin of their engagement he became enraged.
While Stalin and his wife were arguing about this a shot was heard from Yakov's room. He tried to kill himself with a shot in the head but due to frayed nerves from his father's tirade only managed in wounding himself[citation needed]. While she tended to his wounds and sent for a doctor all his father said was, "He can't even do that right."
Dzhugashvili did marry and was survived by two children. His son, Yevgeni, gave many interviews about his grandfather. He also has a daughter, Galina.
Dzhugashvili served in the Red Army during World War II. He was captured by the Wehrmacht during the war. The Germans offered to exchange Yakov for Friedrich Paulus, the German Field Marshal captured by the Soviets after the Battle of Stalingrad.
It is not clear when and how he died. The Germans stated officially that Yakov died by running into an electric fence. Some have contended that Yakov committed suicide at the camp while others have suggested that he was murdered.
External links
- Rising scions of the Soviet past (Information about Yevgeny Dzhugashvili, Yakov's son)
- Information on Yakov's family
- Great grandson of Joseph Stalin Vissarion Djugashvili intends to make a movie depicting the “American dream."
- Revealed: how Stalin's brutal massacre at Katyn shamed his PoW son into suicide
- Documents Shed Light on Stalin Son's Fate