Kamo (Bolshevik) - Early Life (1882-1902)

Early Life (1882-1902)

Semeno Aržakovitš Ter-Petrossian, later named Kamo, was born on 27 July 1882, in Gori, Georgia. His parents were Armenian, and his father was a wealthy contractor.

As a child, Semeno liked to get into fights with his peers and would come home beaten. When he was seven, his parents gave Semeno a personal tutor who taught him how to read and write Russian. Semeno's grandfather, a priest, wanted to send Semeno to the Tiflis Theological Seminary, but Semeno's mother felt he was too young to go away to school. As a result, Semeno stayed at home and was enrolled in 1895 in a local Armenian school, where he remained three years, until he was expelled. Semeno later recounted his experiences in the local school:

During the three years I spent at school, I not only failed to learn a single thing, but what's more, I forgot what I had learned previously. I forgot entirely how to speak Russian and I was a terrible student. In my spare time, I would go fishing or steal fruit. On a few occasions I was almost caught. But when I reached high school, I grew fond of geography and history. I loved to read about wars and heroes. I was deeply religious and sang in the church choir.

After being expelled, Semeno was sent off to Tiflis to enter the Theological Seminary as his grandfather had advocated. In Tiflis, Semeno met Joseph Stalin, who at the time was named Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili. His mother was a friend of Kamo's father. Stalin was a day student at the seminary and helped Semeno prepare to enter the Seminary. In 1901, Kamo was expelled from the seminary and rejoined Stalin who tried to teach him Russian and Marxism but gave up in despair. He had wanted to be an army officer but his father had just gone bankrupt, losing all control over his son.

One day while Stalin was tutoring Semeno, a friend named Slushi entered the room and began to tell an anecdote. Semeno tried to ask for information about who the story was about so he tried to ask his friend "Whom, Slushi, Whom?", which would have been "Komu, Slushi, komu?" in Russian, but Semeno instead said "Kamo, Slushi, Kamo?" This error entertained his friends so much that afterwards he was nicknamed Kamo, a name which stuck with him for the rest of his life.