Joseph Stalin (full name Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin) was born on December 18, 1879, in the Georgian city of Gori to a cobbler father and peasant mother. His mother sent him to the Russian School of Orthodox Christianity in Tiflis to study Christianity, relying on him to be a cleric.
He did not complete his studies because the school expelled him for missing the exam. He was an avid reader, choosing in his readings other than his mother's, focusing on forbidden novels and revolutionary books, including Marxism.