Ekaterina Svanidze

Ekaterina Svanidze (April 2, 1880 – November 25, 1907) was the Georgian first wife of Joseph Stalin. They were married in 1903. She died in 1907 from tuberculosis

Ekaterina Svanidze, nicknamed Kato, was a tailor who worked for the ladies of the Russian army. On the only photograph of her, she makes an elegant impression.

She had two sisters: Sachiko and Moriko. She had at least one brother, but some sources claim she had more than one brother. Because her only known brother Alexander Svanidze spoke German and French and studied in Germany, it's unlikely that her family was poor. Alexander Svanidze was married to Maria Korona, a singer at the Tiflis Opera.

Svanidze married Joseph Stalin in 1903 in a church, and gave him a son, Yakov Dzhugashvili.

Ekaterina Svanidze Ekaterina Svanidze