Stalin, Joseph (1879-1953)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1953 Mar 12 p. 1

Birth date: 1879

text of obituary:

MALENKOV BECOMES SUCCESSOR TO STALIN

The world pondered last week as the Moscow radio announced that Georgi M. Malenkov would become successor to Joseph Stalin, whose death notice was released Friday, March 6. Foreign observers who knew him said Malenkov, 51-year-old collaborator of the former Russian dictator, could possibly be more ruthless than was his predecessor but perhaps less skillful in handling people.

Stalin's serious illness was first reported early in the week, when the 10 physicians att ending him told the Russian people their leader was suffering from a stroke. On thursday they said his heart was giving out.

Stalin's funeral Monday, March 9, was the greatest display of national mourning since the death of Lenin. Thousands upon thousands of people filed past the coffin placed in Moscow's magnificent Hall of Columns in Red Square. Long lines of waiting mourners extended for miles into the suburbs of the city.

Born in the province of Georgia, Stalin was the son of a shoemaker father and serf mother. He was a theological student before he became a revolutionary agitator and eventually a close associate of Lenin, which latter position served as his final stepping stone to world power.