Stalin’s Birthplace

By Diane Henrikson Russell

December 21, 1979 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Stalin (real last name: Jughashvili) in the Georgian city of Gori.

Coincidentally, my graduate-student spouse conducted research through Tbilisi State University’s Sociology Department in Georgia’s capital city during the 1979-80 USSR academic exchange sponsored by IREX (International Research and Exchanges Board).
We went to the pervyi otdel (which controlled the movements of foreign exchange students) at Tbilisi State to obtain a special propusk (permit) to attend the 100th birthday celebration at the recently renovated museum. Khruschev declared Stalin a persona non grata in the 1960’s, but many Georgians still viewed Stalin as a local hero. That made the celebration even more rare.

The bureaucrat denied our request, so we watched the broadcast of a rock band playing while a mob swarmed Stalin’s birthplace on a small black-and-white television set. This event was important enough that an Associated Press reporter did a telephone interview with my spouse about the reaction of Tbilisi students and residents that evening.
We had given up on receiving permission to travel to Gori when we happily learned that the Sociology Department students would take us there on an approved field trip on March 15, 1980, a week before we planned to leave Tbilisi permanently for Moscow.

We were amazed as we walked through the detailed exhibit inside the tiny birthplace museum. The home was so fragile that a large concrete building with pillars was built over it to protect it. Unlike most museums, this one did not have a gift shop. We photographed the large statue of Stalin in the center of the town square. All other statues of Stalin in the USSR had been removed.

On our way back to Tbilisi, we stopped at the ancient cave town of Uplistsikhe. Archaeologists determined that Uplistsikhe had its first inhabitants at the end of the 2nd millennium BC and its first structures in the 1st millennium AD. It was the center of power and a stage for religious ceremonies until the 4th century, when Christianity spread to Mtskheta and Tbilisi. Uplistsikhe was the site of the first Christian Basilica.

We climbed in and out of many caves and tested our balance while walking inside a steep stone tunnel. The terrain reminded me of Bedrock, the home of the Flintstones.

We were very hungry by the time we stopped to have a picnic. It was in the 40’s Fahrenheit, but the cold temperatures did not deter our hosts. The Georgian climate is temperate enough to grow many fruits, like persimmons, pomegranates, grapes and figs. Chicken Tabaka was served with walnuts as well as Georgia’s national dish, khachapuri (cheese-filled bread with an egg on top). Note: we rewashed fruits in mineral water to avoid catching giardia, an intestinal infection.

Drinking was the main focus of this picnic. We had bonded with these students over the last six months, so many toasts were made to the friendship between Georgia and the United States. If we did not drink to the bottom of the glass or drinking horn, we were not serious about our affection! In addition, a fellow student dramatically recited his own poems, and the group sang Georgian folk songs. I drank Borjomi (naturally carbonated mineral water), but everyone else drank homemade wine and chacha, a pomace brandy of almost 85% alcohol.

Four hours later, you can imagine the group’s impaired ability to walk back to our jeep at dusk. We crammed ourselves into the jeep, which had no windows or seatbelts. The driver’s false sense of confidence caused him to become a daredevil. He drove toward an unsteady wooden bridge meant only for foot traffic. The bridge was over a deep ravine, but that fact did not bother the driver. I prayed that we would survive, not fall into the ravine, and I silently expressed gratitude that I had had a nice life. Then I closed my eyes as the jeep bounced over the footbridge. I was utterly amazed that we were still alive on the other side of the bridge. The passengers expressed sighs of relief!

Georgians had a bad habit of playing “chicken” with drivers heading toward them in the same lane on the paved highway heading toward Tbilisi. Many lives were lost due to the risky driving behavior of macho drivers. Luckily for us, our driver had his thrill for the day and decided to stay in his lane until we arrived safely back at Tbilisi State.

Diane Henrikson Russell joined OLLI in 2014. She has taken over 70 OLLI courses on leadership, radio, life story writing, Tai Chi, healthy aging, literature, science, politics, sociology, and humanities. Diane volunteers as a proofreader for the OLLI catalog and for OLLI Connects. Diane was Co-chair of the Volunteer Management Committee from 2019 through early 2023.