As his mother was interested in pursuing a professional career, a nanny, Alexandra Bychokova, was hired to look after Stalin and Svetlana.[6] On 9 November 1932 Vasily's mother shot herself.[7] To conceal the suicide, the children were told that Alliluyeva had died of peritonitis, a complication from appendicitis. It would be 10 years before they learned the truth of their mother's death.[8] Svetlana would later write that the death of their mother had a profound impact on her brother. She noted that he started to drink alcohol at the age of 13, and in drunken episodes would curse and attack her.[9] He also became increasingly violent, especially towards Svetlana, and would be quite disruptive at Zubalovo, a dacha outside Moscow that was his primary residence.[10]