30 Facts About Vasily Stalin

Vasily Iosifovich Stalin Dzhugashvili was the youngest son of Joseph Stalin, born from his second wife, Nadezhda Alliluyeva.

Vasily Stalin joined the Air Force when Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, in 1941.

Vasily Stalin criticized Soviet leaders, and was ultimately arrested and sent to prison.

Vasily Stalin was later granted clemency, though he spent the remainder of his life between imprisonment and hospitalization until he died in 1962.

Vasily Stalin noted that he started to drink alcohol at the age of 13, and in drunken episodes would curse and attack her.

Vasily Stalin became increasingly violent, especially towards Svetlana, and would be quite disruptive at Zubalovo, a dacha outside Moscow, his primary residence.

Vasily Stalin spent time with other guards as well, drinking with them.

Vasily Stalin tried to gain the attention of his father, writing letters about what he was doing, but Stalin did not reciprocate.

Vasily Stalin was a poor student, and Svetlana would recall that the teachers would frequently discuss his poor behavior with his father.

Vasily Stalin was transferred in 1937 to the Special School No 2, though the faculty there did nothing to curtail his behaviour.

Vasily Stalin initially wanted to attend an artillery school, but as his half-brother Yakov was already enrolled in one, their father did not want them both in the same military branch.

Vasily Stalin's father ordered the school not to grant him any favours or special privileges due to his name, and asked that he should stay in regular army barracks.

However, the report noted Vasily Stalin tended to study poorly, was unshaven for duty, and reacted "badly to snafus in flight".

Vasily Stalin completed his schooling in March 1940, with his final marks stating he did "excellent" and was given the rank of air force lieutenant.

Vasily Stalin was transferred to the front in August 1941 and given the surname Ivanov in an attempt to conceal his identity.

Vasily Stalin took part in 29 combat missions, and is said to have shot down two enemy aircraft.

Vasily Stalin mainly stayed in Moscow for the rest of the war.

Bored by his new role, Vasily Stalin found himself in trouble after an April 4,1943 incident where he had explosives dropped into the Moskva River, injuring himself and killing a flight engineer.

Vasily Stalin was further promoted to the rank of general, and at the age of 24 was made the youngest major-general in the Red Army.

Vasily Stalin was awarded several decorations, including the Order of Red Banner, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, and the Order of Suvorov.

Vasily Stalin was promoted to major-general in 1946, to Lieutenant-General in 1947 and Commander of the Air Forces of the Moscow Military District in 1948.

Vasily Stalin arrived shortly after the death of his father, and in a drunken rage claimed his father had been poisoned.

Less than two months after his father's death, Vasily Stalin was arrested on 28 April 1953 because he had visited a restaurant with foreign diplomats.

Vasily Stalin was charged with denigration of the Soviet Union's leaders, anti-Soviet propaganda and criminal negligence, and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Vasily Stalin was imprisoned in the special penitentiary in Vladimir under the name "Vasily Pavlovich Vasilyev".

Vasily Stalin was released from prison on 11 January 1960.

Vasily Stalin was granted permission to wear his general's uniform and all his military medals.

Vasily Stalin died on 19 March 1962, due to chronic alcoholism, two days before his 41st birthday, and was buried in Arskoe Cemetery.

Vasily Stalin was partially rehabilitated in 1999, when the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court lifted charges of anti-Soviet propaganda that dated from 1953.

Vasily Stalin's body was re-buried next to his fourth wife in a Moscow cemetery in 2002.