Lana Peters's life was a battle with history.

Ms. Peters was born Svetlana Alliluyeva Stalina and she was the only daughter of Joseph Stalin. Her life was spent in the shadow of the man who helped to forge Soviet communism, led the nation to victory in World War II, and was held responsible for killing more people than Hitler.

Much-married, restless, quarrelsome and elusive, she wrote best-selling memoirs, defected to the U.S., returned to the U.S.S.R., and finally settled in rural Wisconsin. She died there Nov. 22 of colon cancer, Richland County Coroner Mary Turner announced....