Soso Iremashvili was a childhood friend of Stalin, though they later drifted apart.
"His marriage was a happy one. True, it was impossible to discover in his home that equality of the sexes which he advocated… But it was not in his character to share equal rights with any other person. His marriage was a happy one because his wife, who could not measure up to him and intellect, regarded him as a demi-god… Being a Georgian woman, she was brought up in the sacrosanct tradition which obliges a woman to serve… With all her heart she served her husband's welfare. She passed her nights and ardent prayer waiting for her Soso, who was busy at his meetings, praying that he might turn away from ideas that were displeasing to God and turn instead to a quiet home life of toil and contentment…this man, so restless in spirit, could find love only in his own impoverished home. Only his wife, his child and his mother were exempt from the scorn he poured out upon all others."
Reference: Cited in Wolfe, Bertram D. Three Who Made a Revolution: A Biographical History. New York: Cooper Square Press. Page 450.
"His marriage was a happy one. True, it was impossible to discover in his home that equality of the sexes which he advocated… But it was not in his character to share equal rights with any other person. His marriage was a happy one because his wife, who could not measure up to him and intellect, regarded him as a demi-god… Being a Georgian woman, she was brought up in the sacrosanct tradition which obliges a woman to serve… With all her heart she served her husband's welfare. She passed her nights and ardent prayer waiting for her Soso, who was busy at his meetings, praying that he might turn away from ideas that were displeasing to God and turn instead to a quiet home life of toil and contentment…this man, so restless in spirit, could find love only in his own impoverished home. Only his wife, his child and his mother were exempt from the scorn he poured out upon all others."
Reference: Cited in Wolfe, Bertram D. Three Who Made a Revolution: A Biographical History. New York: Cooper Square Press. Page 450.