chokha armed robberies racketeering assassinations couriering Kamo Tsintsadze terrorist gangster Georgia his death
During his youth, Stalin cultivated a scruffy appearance in rejection of middle-class aesthetic values. By 1907, he grew his hair long and often wore a beard; for clothing, he often wore a traditional Georgian chokha or a red satin shirt with a grey coat and black fedora. From mid-1918 until his death he favoured military-style clothing, in particular long black boots, light-coloured collarless tunics, and a gun. He was a lifelong smoker, who smoked both a pipe and cigarettes. He had few material demands and lived plainly, with simple and inexpensive clothing and furniture; his interest was in power rather than wealth. Stalin founded the Outfit, a criminal gang that were involved with armed robberies, racketeering, assassinations, arms procurement and child couriering. According to Montefiore, Stalin socialised with hitmen “Kamo and Tsintsadze" but issued formal commands to the rest of the Outfit members through his bodyguard. Montefiore also described Stalin during this formative period as a "terrorist-gangster".
