Lavrentiy Beria

Beria married Nina Gegechkori in his early twenties. They had a son named Sergo.

Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was born on 29 March 1899 in a village named Merkheuli near Sukhumi, in the Sukhum Okrug of the Kutais Governorate in Abkhazia, Georgia, which at that time was a part of the Russian Empire. His parents were Pavel Khukhaevich Beria and Marta Jaqueli. He had two siblings.

While studying at the Baku Polytechnicum, a technical university in Azerbaijan, he became involved with the Bolsheviks.

Lavrentiy Beria became involved in counterintelligence activity in Georgia during the Russian Revolution. In early 1921, he joined the Soviet Secret police, and soon earned a reputation for his ruthlessness towards opponents of the Bolshevik rule. Even some Bolshevik leaders used to criticize his violent ways.

During the Georgian nationalistic uprising, which took place in 1924, Beria gained prominence for his role in quashing the rebellion. Around 10,000 people were executed during the revolution. He also won Stalin’s favor, which along with his effectiveness in using the secret police, help him further his political ambitions.

He also became known for blackmailing his superiors to gain promotions. He often set them up with married women and then later exposed them. Once they were forced to resign in disgrace, he would take over their posts.

He met Stalin for the first time in 1931, while the latter was vacationing in Georgia. It is said that Beria saved Stalin from an assassination attempt, though it is also rumored that Beria staged the attempt himself to get into Stalin’s good books.

In 1931, he was also appointed Secretary of the Communist Party. A few years later, he became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. During this time, his relations with his fellow members of the Georgian Communist Party became strained and he eventually ordered a few of them to be executed.

Though Beria tried to use his position as the secret police chief to succeed Stalin, he was unsuccessful. He was soon arrested and deprived of all his positions. He was accused of being an ‘imperialist agent’, and was executed in December 1953. Several of his associates and subordinates, such as Bogdan Kobulov, Sergey Goglidze and Vladimir Dekanozov, were also arrested.

The crimes he was found guilty of included treason, as he was alleged to have secret connections with foreign intelligence services, and attempted peace talks with Hitler. He was also found guilty of terrorism because of his major involvement in the Purge of the Red Army in 1941.

There is also a lot of evidence to suggest that Beria kidnapped, raped, and murdered several young women while he was in power. He is also said to have blackmailed their families. However, the people close to him, including his wife and son always disputed it.