18 Facts About Keke Geladze

Ekaterine Giorgis asuli Geladze was the mother of Joseph Stalin.

Besarion left the family, leaving Keke Geladze to raise her son.

Keke Geladze remained in Gori when Ioseb moved to the Tbilisi Spiritual Seminary, and stayed there until his rise to power in the Soviet Union as Joseph Stalin.

Keke Geladze died in 1937, and was buried in the Mtatsminda Pantheon in Tbilisi.

Keke Geladze was born to a family of Georgian Orthodox Christian serfs in Gambareuli near Gori in either 1856 or 1858.

Keke Geladze's father, Giorgi Geladze, was either a bricklayer or potter, and was a serf belonging to Prince Ivane Amilakhvari.

Keke Geladze died around the time of Geladze's birth, though her mother Melania ensured that Geladze learned to read and write, which was unusual for women at the time.

Melania died while Keke Geladze was young, leaving the children to be raised by Melania's brother, who moved them into Gori around 1864, when serfs were emancipated in the Caucasus.

Jughashvili's drinking was likely exacerbated by rumours of Keke Geladze flirting with married men in Gori: rumours linked her to several men, including Yakov Egnatashvili, who served as best man at the wedding and godfather to the first two children; Damian Davrishevi, a police officer; and Kristopore Charkviani, a priest.

However, there is no evidence to show either that Keke Geladze was flirtatious, or even that the men came to her, and there has been no proof that Jughashvili was not Ioseb's father.

Keke Geladze sent some money to Keke, as well as offers to reconcile, but all efforts to do so failed.

Around this time Keke Geladze started working at a couture shop, and would remain there until she left Gori.

Jughashvili was upset when he learned that Keke Geladze had enrolled Ioseb in school, instead hoping his son would follow his path and become a cobbler.

Keke Geladze was adamantly opposed to the idea, and used her connections with the church to bring Ioseb back to Gori, where he would continue his studies to become a priest.

Keke Geladze cleaned the school to help pay the tuition, though Ioseb soon gained a stipend due to his academic performance, and upon graduating in 1894 wrote entrance exams for the Tbilisi Spiritual Seminary, one of the top schools in the Caucasus at the time, and was admitted.

Keke Geladze would visit Geladze in Gori one final time, in 1904 after escaping from exile in Siberia.

Keke Geladze was given a room in the palace of the former Viceroy of the Caucasus; the Council of People's Commissars of Georgia used the palace.

Keke Geladze was cared for by Lavrentiy Beria, the leader of Georgia and a close ally of Stalin, and frequently visited by his wife Nino.