# Is this really Joseph Stalin as a young man? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-joseph-stalin-as-a-young-man/677675 "2014-01-02T02:45:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-joseph-stalin-as-a-young-man/677675/21 "2014-01-04T02:19:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*Dewey:\*\*The first one looks more like an illustration than a photograph. > [@](#): > > **Colophone** : That’s what I was going to say. At the very least it looks heavily retouched. Portraits from that period often had that altered or retouched look to them. I have a large portrait of my great-grandparents that has the same quality. I don’t know what process was used. I think the notion that we can detect evil in a face is probably nonsense. Most mug shots look like hell except Sinatra’s. [http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Frank-Sinatra-Mugshot-Posters\_i8960054\_.htm](http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Frank-Sinatra-Mugshot-Posters_i8960054_.htm) Judging from the eyebrows alone, I think all three in the OP are the same person. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-joseph-stalin-as-a-young-man/677675/22 "2014-01-04T04:06:46Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The first one looks more like an illustration than a photograph. This. That first 15 YO pic does not look like a photo. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-joseph-stalin-as-a-young-man/677675/23 "2014-01-04T14:10:15Z")
The middle one looks like you would find him in a coffeehouse giving bad poetry readings and putting the moves on the hippie girls. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-joseph-stalin-as-a-young-man/677675/24 "2014-01-04T14:16:50Z")
Somewhere I read that Beria kept on his good side by keeping him supplied with women. He was a major do-them-on-the-stone-floor horndog like Mussolini, but when he wanted one he didn’t want to make much effort getting her. And his preference was for big girls. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-joseph-stalin-as-a-young-man/677675/25 "2014-01-04T22:28:37Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > The middle one looks like you would find him in a coffeehouse giving bad poetry readings and putting the moves on the hippie girls. No information about the hippie girls, but: [Stalin’s poetry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalin%27s_poetry). ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-joseph-stalin-as-a-young-man/677675/26 "2014-01-04T23:19:06Z")
Yes definitely, all those pictures appear in the book [_Young Stalin_](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Young-Stalin-Simon-Sebag-Montefiore/dp/0753823799) by Simon Sebag Montefiore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-joseph-stalin-as-a-young-man/677675.md?page=1)