Ekaterina Svanidze

Who was Ekaterina Svanidze?

Ekaterina "Kato" Svanidze was the Georgian first wife of Joseph Stalin. They were married in 1906.

She was a daughter of Semon Svanadze and Sephora. Ekaterina, nicknamed Kato, was a tailor who worked for the women of the Russian army

She had two sisters, Alexandra and Maria. She had at least one brother, but some sources claim she had more than one. Her only known brother was Alexander Svanidze. Alexander Svanidze was married to Maria Korona, a singer at the Tiflis Opera.

Kato Svanidze married Joseph Stalin in St. David's church at Tiflis in 1906. They had a son, Yakov Dzhugashvili. She died of typhus in 1907. Much of her family would later be executed during her husband's Great Terror.

Stalin would later state that, other than his mother, she may have been the only person he truly loved. At her funeral, he said, "This creature softened my heart of stone. She died and with her died my last warm feelings for humanity."