11 interesting facts to know about dictator Josef Stalin

New Delhi: Born on 18 December 1878 Josef Stalin was the dictator of the USSR from 1924 to 1953. He was responsible for the death of millions.Yet, he reigned victorious against Nazi invaders and set the stage for the Soviet Union to become one of the most powerful nations in the world.In what Khrushchev called “a time of the cult of personality,” Stalin was feared, loathed, and loved in life as well as in death.His purge of Russian generals was so proficient and total that it left few experienced commanders to take their places in the field.Stalin's death was officially announced on March 6, 1953. However, he suffered a stroke on March 1, 1953.Here are ten interesting facts about this dictator:His actual name was Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, he gave up to his real name and adopted “Stalin” (from the Russian word for “steel”) when he started his political career. Some commentators suggest the son of a modest cobbler chose the name in order to distance himself from his Georgian roots. After being in power, Stalin has been named the short father of the country in a reference to his relatively short 5ft 4 inch height.Stalin was very much sensitive regarding his height and physical appearance. Stalin had several portrait artists shot for their unflattering depictions of him.Stalin had problems with his right hand being thinner than the left one and this is why he used to keep it under his clothes. A discreet man in his private life, the dictator ordered the guards not to enter into his room when he was on his dying bed, even if he screams. One day, in a test of their resilience, Stalin decided to scream as if in great agony. When his loyal guards came to their master's aid, they were duly executed for failing to follow orders.Stalin's mother had wanted her son to become a priest in the hope that a career in the clergy would relieve him of poverty and bring opportunity.He was ousted seemingly after reading books by Karl Marx, in his early forays into the revolutionary movement. Although known throughout the West as a cruel cold tyrant, Stalin was actually nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize twice, in 1945 and 1948, for his involvement in bringing the Second World War to a close. Stalin was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year twice – in 1939 and 1942.Apparently Stalin was a big fan of American cowboy films. He would host screenings to friends in his private cinema, which came complete with its own in-house translator.At his farewell meeting with Stalin before leaving Moscow in 1952, Indian ambassador to Soviet Union S. Radhakrishnan patted him on the cheek, and on the back. He also passed his hand over his head. Stalin said: "You are the first person to treat me as a human being and not as a monster. You are leaving us and I am said. I want you to live long; I have not long to live." Six months afterwards, he died.