Successors Of Ruthless Dictators: From Alcohol, Gambling And Crimes To Painful Deaths

International News: North Korea's dictator leader Kim Jong Un attended a military parade in Beijing with China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin and took his daughter with him. Very little is known about Kim Ju A. She is believed to be around 12 years old but it is believed that she is being made the successor of the dictator. But what is it like to be the child of a dictator? 

Let's look at some of the most intriguing examples, including a drunkard, gambler and alleged rapist who was groomed as his successor and who ended up killing 91 people. 

Children of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin

The twice-married Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had a troubled relationship with his eldest son Yakov Djugashvili. During World War II, Stalin sent the former engineer to the front as an artillery officer, even though he once said, "He can't even shoot straight!" Yakov was captured by the Germans in 1941 and offered in exchange for one of their commanders.

But Stalin, who had seen millions of his own men killed, turned down the offer, saying he would "not exchange a field marshal for a lieutenant". Imprisoned at Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Yakov, aged 36, died in 1943, apparently shot by his captors, after which he jumped over an electric fence.

Stalin's youngest son Vasily was also a soldier, but he became an alcoholic and went to prison, dying in 1962 at the age of 40. His adopted son Artem Sergeyev became a general and died in 2008 at the age of 86, while daughter Svetlana emigrated to the US in 1967 and died in 2011 at the age of 85.

Mussolini's daughter's husband shot

Benito Mussolini was the fascist dictator of Italy. His eldest daughter Edda married the politician Galeazzo Ciano, but when he opposed Mussolini during World War II, despite his daughter's pleas, 'Il Duce' had him shot in 1944.

Of Mussolini's other children, son Bruno, a pilot, died in a flying accident in 1941, Vittorio became a film critic, Romano became a jazz pianist, Anna Maria became a radio host, and Benito Albino died in an asylum.

Dictator Idi Amin

Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, whose rule killed 300,000 people in the 1970s, had at least 40 children and several wives. In 2007 one of his sons, Faisal Wangita, then 25, was jailed for his role in a gang attack that left a Somali man dead in north London.

Wangita was sentenced to five years in prison for intentionally wounding and conspiracy to commit a violent riot. Amin, who was notorious for torturing his victims, died in exile in 2003 at the age of 78. 

Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu 

Communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu ruthlessly suppressed opposition in Romania with his secret police, while his policies drove the country into poverty. His youngest son Nicu was a drunkard, gambler and alleged rapist whom Nicolae had groomed to be his successor. Nicu was later accused but denied it and ordered troops to fire on protesters, killing 91 people.

His father and mother, Elena, were shot by firing squad after the 1989 revolution. Nicu was imprisoned for a time after the regime's fall and died of cirrhosis in 1996 at the age of 45. Ceausescu's other children fared better. His second son, Valentin, is a top physicist and his daughter Zoia is a mathematician.

Children of Saddam Hussein

Uday Hussein rivalled his father Saddam Hussein in brutality, who was Iraq's dictator until his death in 2006. During Saddam's rule, about 250,000 people disappeared and his eldest son was no exception. In 1988 he killed his father's cook and in 1996 he had his brother-in-law killed.

A cigar-smoking, fast-car enthusiast, the playboy was also a racketeer and rapist, and tortured the country's football players when they lost matches. He is also alleged to have used a lookalike. Uday (39) and his younger brother Qusay (37) died in a shootout with US forces in the city of Mosul following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Daughter of Russian President Vladimir

Russian President Vladimir Putin has two daughters with his ex-wife, Lyudmila, a flight attendant he married in the 1980s. Maria Vorontsova, now 40, is a pediatrician. She is separated from her ex-husband, Dutch businessman Jorrit Faassen, and now lives in Moscow.