Stalin by Oleg V. Khlevniuk Read Free Book Online Page A

asked for indulgence. There is no mention of Jughashvili’s involvement in this incident. All that is known for certain is that in January 1899 Jughashvili was deprived of the right to leave the seminary premises for one month, and Kelbakiani was expelled. 26 The difference in punishments may indicate that Ioseb was penalized for some other infraction or that he played only a minor role in the destruction of the notebook.
    In June 1951, Kelbakiani wrote the following to his former classmate:
    Comrade Soso! If you knew how impoverished I was at the present time, I am certain you would not leave me without attention. I have grown old and have no income and I am in a state of need.… Comrade Soso, in some way you are in my debt: you probably remember how I grabbed from the seminary inspector … illegal literature that was taken during a search of your drawer, for which I was expelled from the seminary.… I am not proud of this and am not boasting, of course.… Poverty has forced me to remember this. Help me, Comrade Soso.
    27
    This letter was placed before Stalin. There is no record to show whether Kelbakiani was given any assistance, but his letter does shed light on the 1899 incident. Kelbakiani was undoubtedly familiar with the account published in 1939 describing the future Stalin’s “heroic deed,” and he generally adheres to its details. The confiscated notebook is identified as “illegal literature” and is found among Jughashvili’s possessions rather than Kelbakiani’s. It is, however, noteworthy that Kelbakiani unequivocally states that he himself, without help from “Comrade Soso,” was the one to grab the confiscated notebook from the inspector. He is just as unequivocal on the subject of Soso’s involvement in the incident and in suggesting that he, Kelbakiani, performed a favor for the future leader. Overall, it would appear that Ioseb really was involved. We can surmise, for example, that the notebook Kelbakiani destroyed belonged to Jughashvili. This may not have been reported in the conduct journal because it was not known at the time. It seems almost certain that Ioseb did not help Kelbakiani save the materials. This was among the more harmless of the legends that took shape to foster the cult of the leader.
    The notebook incident aside, Jughashvili committed more than enough sins in the eyes of the seminary leadership to render him persona non grata. In May 1899 he was expelled, the formal cause being “for failing to appear at examinations for unknown reasons.” One odd detail is that the certificate he was given upon expulsion, stating he had completed four years at the seminary, gives him excellent grades for behavior. 28 Stalin’s biographers have long commented on the confusion surrounding the circumstances of his departure. He himself preferred to say that he was “kicked out” “for Marxist propaganda.” In one interview, Ekaterine claims that she took her son out of the seminary because of his poor health. 29 There may be some truth to all these accounts—both the official formulation and the statements by Jughashvili and his mother. The seminary leadership may have been eager to rid itself of a rebel while avoiding scandal. Ioseb may have withdrawn “by mutual consent” with a commendatory certificate on the completion of four years. If so, Ekaterine and her complaints of her son’s worsening health probably played a major role. In the end, Ioseb really was “kicked out,” but quietly, leaving the door open for him to mend his ways.
     UNDERGROUND, PRISON, AND EXILE
    The certificate issued to Ioseb Jughashvili by the seminary would have enabled him to work in the area of religion or teach elementary school. 30 But a return to ordinary life did not interest him. In late 1899 Ioseb was hired, with the help of friends, to work at the Tiflis Meteorological Station. His job involved constant recording of instrument readings and therefore required him to live on the premises,