 A communist ideologically committed to the Leninist interpretation of Marxism, Stalin formalised these ideas as Marxism–Leninism, while his own policies are known as Stalinism.Born to a poor family in Gori in the Russian Empire (now Georgia), Stalin joined the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party as a youth.He edited the party's newspaper, "Pravda", and raised funds for Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction via robberies, kidnappings, and protection rackets.