The Cult of Personality of Stalin

Stalin's image was progressively built up as that of the "father of the peoples" and the infallible continuer of Lenin's work. The mass celebration of his fiftieth birthday in 1929 marked a turning point in the development of this cult, after which portraits, statues, and posters of the leader became omnipresent in public and private spaces alike, and cities were renamed in his honor, among them Stalingrad, Stalinsk, and Stalinabad.