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The turbulent life of Svetlana Alliluyeva, Stalin's defecting daughter - The turbulent life of Svetlana Alliluyeva, Stalin's defecting daughter

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The Stalin family -

Joseph Stalin, the infamous leader of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1952, was an immensely complicated man. A hero to some and a tyrant to others, Stalin was also a father, albeit a decidedly poor one. The dictator's personal life was characterized by alternating periods of neglect and fierce control.

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Stalin's wives -

Joseph Stalin was married only twice; both of his wives died at tragically young ages. His first wife, Kato Svanidze, gave birth to the Communist leader's eldest son in 1907, and died that same year at the age of 22. Nadezhda Alliluyeva (pictured) married Stalin in 1919, 12 years after Kato's death.

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Yakov Dzhugashvili, the eldest -

Yakov Dzhugashvili, Stalin's eldest son and Kato Svanidze's only child, was abandoned by his father after Svanidze's death. It was only when Yakov was 14 that he joined his father in Moscow. Stalin, preoccupied with his revolutionary work, neglected Yakov through most of his adolescence, during which the child made multiple attempts on his own life. During World War II, while Yakov was serving in the Red Army, he was captured and killed by the Nazis in 1943 at the age of 36.

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Vasily Stalin, the middle child -

Vasily Stalin, the first child of Joseph Stalin and Nadezhda Alliluyeva, was born in 1921. Just like his elder half brother, Vasily Stalin was largely ignored by his father, despite his best attempts to earn Stalin Sr.'s recognition and affection. In the military, Stalin Jr. was widely distrusted and disliked by his comrades, who saw him as nothing more than Stalin's spoiled son. Vasily Stalin was tortured by the temptations of alcohol for many years after the war, until dying of alcoholism in 1962 at the age of 40.

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Artyom Sergeyev, the adoptive son -

Artyom Sergeyev, the son of Fyodor Sergeyev (pictured), one of Joseph Stalin's closest confidants, was brought into the Stalin family after his father's untimely death in 1921, the same year of Artyom's birth. In fact, Artyom was born the same year and month as Vasily. In a strange twist of fate, Artyom Sergeyev turned into the most widely respected member of the Stalin household, reaching the rank of major general during World War II and continuing to participate in Soviet affairs for many decades.

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Svetlana Alliluyeva, the only daughter -

Svetlana Alliluyeva, born on February 28, 1926, was Joseph Stalin's youngest child and only daughter. Stalin seemed to show more interest and affection for Svetlana than for any of his other children, but was still mostly absent from home life during her upbringing.

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Life with the nanny -

The Stalin children's mother also chose to focus on her professional life, leaving them in the care of a nanny for the vast majority of their childhoods. Svetlana formed a particularly close bond with the nanny, Alexandra Bychokova; they remained in close contact until Bychokova's death in 1956.

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The death of Nadezhda -

Nadezhda, who has been described as a mostly absent mother who, when she did appear, was overbearing and strict, still cared deeply for her children and wished them safe and prosperous lives. It is rumored that, on multiple occasions, Nadezhda planned to take the children and leave Stalin. But this never came to fruition. After a particularly vitriolic fight at a Soviet dinner party, Nadezhda took her own life in 1932 at the age of 31.

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Svetlana's loss -

Their mother's cause of death was entirely hidden from the Stalin children; they were initially told their mother had died from appendicitis. Svetlana only learned the truth of her mother's tragic death 10 years later, from a foreign newspaper article. It is said that Svetlana grew immediately distant from her father after learning of the lie he had told her for so long. These events also prompted Svetlana to adopt her mother's maiden name, Alliluyeva, after being born and raised as Svetlana Stalina.

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Stalin the protective father -

Despite his frequent absence and coldness, Stalin still insisted on having a hand in all of his children's affairs. When Svetlana fell in love for the first time at 16 with Soviet filmmaker Aleksei Kapler, more than twice her elder, Stalin proceeded to banish Kapler from the Soviet Union for five years. Later, in 1948, Stalin sentenced Kapler to another five years of manual labor in northern Russia.

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The many marriages of Svetlana -

Svetlana, although young, never forgave her father for what she saw as an inhumane intrusion on her happiness. This was the first of many romantic disappointments that Svetlana would experience throughout her life.

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The many marriages of Svetlana -

Svetlana's first marriage was to Grigory Morozov, a schoolmate that Svetlana met at Moscow University. The two were married in 1944, and had one child together—a son, named Joseph Alliluyev. But the couple divorced in 1947. Stalin arranged a political marriage for Svetlana in 1949 to Yuri Zhdanov, the son of one of Stalin's closest associates. The two were plainly unhappy and separated in 1950, but not before having a daughter together.

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The death of Stalin -

Svetlana's father died in 1953 following a debilitating stroke. Svetlana, now 27, was hurt by her father's death but also felt liberated for the first time.

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Svetlana at work -

Svetlana had been forced by her father to study history and political thought, though neither of these subjects particularly interested her. After Stalin's death, Svetlana was able to work as a lecturer and a translator, occupations closer to her passions of literature and writing.

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The memory of her father -

Svetlana's relationship with her father remained complicated even after his death. Svetlana, in later interviews and memoirs, expressed that Stalin's love for her was always apparent, but that he was "a very simple man. Very rude. Very cruel." Svetlana stated that her father's refusal to allow her to study literature and his exile of her first love were incredibly painful experiences that left indelible marks on her heart and her psyche. Even well into adulthood, Stalin's wishes for his daughter's life were enforced to varying degrees by the Soviet leadership she eventually left behind.

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Brajesh Singh -

Svetlana met Brajesh Singh, a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI), in 1963. Both were admitted to a hospital in Moscow for minor procedures, and forged a deep bond while recovering in each other's company. Although deeply in love with each other, the Soviet leadership forbade them to marry.

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Looking for a life in India -

Singh died in 1967, marking one more tragedy in Svetlana's painful life. Svetlana was granted permission to personally take Singh's ashes back to his family in India, where they were dispersed into the Ganges River, as per Hindu tradition.

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The final straw -

Svetlana wished deeply to stay in India, close to the home and family of her deceased love. But when Svetlana asked Ivan Benediktov, the Soviet Union's ambassador in India, for permission to stay, her request was summarily denied. Hurt by her father and his legacy for the last time, Svetlana decided to defect instead of returning to the Soviet Union as she had been ordered to do.

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Svetlana's defection -

On March 9, 1967, just four days after the 14th anniversary of Stalin's death, Svetlana entered the United States Embassy in New Delhi. The American government, shocked and caught unaware by the sight of Stalin's daughter asking to defect, began Svetlana's process right away.

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From India to New York -

With the help of Chester Bowles, the United States Ambassador to India, Svetlana was immediately flown out of India to Rome, and then from Rome to Geneva. The moment Svetlana stepped off the plane and onto American soil in New York, she became a sensation.

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Svetlana's press conference -

Svetlana participated in a press conference in April 1967, shortly after arriving in the United States. In front of dozens of reporters and camera operators, Svetlana clearly and categorically denounced her late father's reign and legacy, much to the delight of American authorities.

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Dreams finally realized -

Safely settled in the United States, Svetlana was able to live a life close to the one she had always dreamed of. Residing in Princeton, New Jersey, Svetlana happily returned to lecturing and began writing.

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The lectures and letters of Svetlana -

While on the college lecture circuit, Svetlana was able to publish a memoir written in Russia titled 'Twenty Letters to a Friend.' Svetlana also wrote and published two more books after her defection: 1969's 'Only One Year,' and 1984's 'Faraway Music.'

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From New Jersey to Wisconsin -

After some years in Princeton, Svetlana relocated to the northern state of Wisconsin, where she described herself as "quite happy."

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Lana Peters -

Svetlana met William Wesley Peters, an architect and close friend of Frank Lloyd Wright, at a party some time after her relocation to Wisconsin. The couple married in 1970, and Svetlana adopted the new name of Lana Peters. The two remained married until 1973.

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Svetlana and her children -

When Svetlana defected from the Soviet Union, her two oldest children, a son and a daughter, were left behind. Svetlana tried for many years to reach them from the United States, but wasn't successful until 1983. Only the firstborn, Joseph, agreed to maintain contact with his mother, although they were never to see each other again. With Peters, Svetlana had one daughter, named Olga Peters, in 1971.

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Svetlana in the eyes of Russia -

In the years following her defection, Svetlana was widely seen as a traitor in the Soviet Union and was barred from sending communications into the area or, of course, ever returning. These restrictions lightened up in 1986, at which time Svetlana's Soviet citizenship was reinstated.

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Svetlana in the eyes of the West -

Used first and foremost as a tool in the hands of the Western media, Svetlana was accepted with open arms by many in the United States, but was still viewed with distrust by some. After returning briefly to the Soviet Union in 1986, Svetlana was met with a whirlwind of accusations that she had denounced the United States while back in Russia. Svetlana had to work hard to disperse these rumors, which she uniformly denied.

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The same world, everywhere -

Svetlana Alliluyeva died as Lana Peters in Wisconsin in 2011. She was eventually able to lead a quiet and peaceful life, but life in the West was not without its crushing defeats. Miriam Gross, an English journalist close to Svetlana later in life, wrote: "What a terrible blow it is to find out that…there are just the same idiots, incompetent fools, frightened bureaucrats, confused bosses, paranoid fears of deception and surveillance…this loss of idealism is what happens to defectors only too often."

Sources: (Britannica) (Baylor University) (The New Yorker)

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