section_path: Personal life and characteristics/Personality
section_name: Personality
paragraph_text: Personality
  
  Stalin was regarded as an exceptional individual from childhood, according to both hostile and friendly accounts. He possessed a complex mind, remarkable self-control, and excellent memory. Stalin was a diligent worker with a keen interest in learning; as a leader, he meticulously scrutinized details, from film scripts to military plans. His private and working lives were intertwined. Despite his limited formal education, Stalin's intellectual capacity was considerable, though was sometimes susceptible to charlatans like Trofim Lysenko. Stalin's personality was multifaceted, allowing him to play different roles depending on the audience, and he was skilled in deception. His appointment as General Secretary is attributed to his manipulation of Lenin's fears of a party split. Historians have noted Lazar Kaganovich 's description of "several Stalins" to understand his complex character. Stalin was an effective organizer with a strategic mind, and judged others by their inner strength and cleverness. Although he could be rude, Stalin rarely raised his voice; however, as his health deteriorated, he became unpredictable and bad-tempered. He could be charming and enjoyed cracking jokes when relaxed.
  
  Stalin lacked compassion, possibly exacerbated by imprisonment and exile, though he occasionally showed kindness to strangers, even during the Great Terror. He could be self-righteous, resentful, and vindictive, often holding grudges for years. By the 1920s, he had become suspicious and conspiratorial, prone to believing in plots against him and international conspiracies. While he never attended torture sessions or executions, Stalin took pleasure in degrading and humiliating people and kept even close associates in a state of "unrelieved fear". Stalin's brutality marked him as a "natural extremist", and Service suggested he had tendencies toward a paranoid and sociopathic personality disorder. However, Geoffrey Roberts argued Stalin was not a psychopath but an emotionally intelligent and feeling intellectual. Other historians linked his brutality to his commitment to the survival of the Soviet Union and Marxist-Leninist ideology. In contrast, E.A. Rees believed it was psychopathy that bred Stalin's tyranny, citing a 1927 diagnosis by neuropathologist Vladimir Bekhterev that described him as a "typical case of severe paranoia".
  
  Stalin had a keen interest in the arts. He protected certain Soviet writers, such as Mikhail Bulgakov, even when their work was criticized as harmful to his regime. Stalin enjoyed classical music, owned around 2,700 records, and often attended the Bolshoi Theatre in the 1930s and 40s. His taste was conservative, favoring classical drama, opera, and ballet over what he dismissed as experimental " formalism ", and disliked avant-garde in the visual arts too. He was a voracious reader with over 20,000 books, with little fiction.
  
  His favorite subject was history, followed by Marxist theory and fiction. Stalin was considered an effective debater who often quoted Marx and Engels. He kept up with debates in historical studies, particularly those related to Russian, Mesopotamian, ancient Roman, and Byzantine history. He was especially interested in the reigns of Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, and Catherine the Great. An autodidact, Stalin claimed to read as many as 500 pages a day. Lenin was his favorite author, but he read, and appreciated, works by Trotsky and other adversaries. Stalin enjoyed watching films, particularly at night, in cinemas installed in the Kremlin and his dachas. He liked Westerns, though his favorite films were Volga-Volga and Circus.
  
  Stalin was an accomplished billiards player, and collected watches. He enjoyed practical jokes, such as placing a tomato on the chairs of Politburo members. At social events, Stalin encouraged singing and drinking, hoping others would drunkenly reveal secrets to him. Stalin had a love of flowers from infancy, and became a keen gardener. His Volynskoe suburb had a 20-hectare (50-acre) park, to which Stalin devoted much attention.
  
  Stalin's rise to absolute power has been the subject of much debate. Some historians attribute his success to personal qualities, while others emphasize the growth of Soviet bureaucracy, which Trotsky argued served as a power base for Stalin. The premature deaths of Lenin and Yakov Sverdlov are seen as key factors in Stalin's rise. Peter Kenez believed Trotsky could have removed Stalin with Lenin's testament, but acquiesced to the collective decision not to publish it.