Akaki Chkhenkeli ( ka, აკაკი ჩხენკელი) (1874 – 5 January 1959) was a Georgian

Social Democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

politician and publicist who acted as one of the leaders of the

Menshevik The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...

movement in Russia and Georgia. In 1918 he served as the prime minister and foreign minister of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, and then became foreign minister of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. In 1921 he was appointed the Georgian Minister to France, though was unable to serve as the Red Army invaded Georgia. His younger brother was the linguist

Kita Tschenkéli Kita "Petre" Chkhenkeli ( ka, კიტა "პეტრე" ჩხენკელი; Tschenkéli in western literature) (8 November 1895 – 22 October 1963) was a Georgian linguist and lexicographer based in Germany and Switzerland. He is best k ...

Life

He was born in the town of Okumi, Georgia, then part of

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, to a noble family. A graduate of universities in Kyiv, Berlin, and London, he was a lawyer and a literature expert. He joined the

movement in 1898 and sided with the Menshevik faction in 1903. He was involved in the Russian Revolution of 1905 and was briefly arrested in its aftermath. He was elected to the Fourth

State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...

where he advocated

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

for the peoples of Russia. After the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

of 1917, he worked for the Special Transcaucasian Committee as a Commissar for Internal Affairs and was elected, in June 1917, a member of All-Russian Central Executive Committee. He was instrumental in convincing the Soviets to reverse the 1904 cession of Gagra and areas west of the

Bzyb River The Bzyb or Bzipi ( or ; ka, ბზიფი, Bzipi; ab, Бзыҧ, Bzyṗ; russian: Бзыбь, Bzybj) is one of the two largest rivers of Abkhazia, along with the Kodori, and the twelfth longest river in Georgia. The river valley has rich bio ...

to Russia. In March 1918 he led a delegation to Trabzon to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire over territory that had been ceded in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, namely Batumi; as Georgia had not been consulted, they were not willing to give up land. However the Ottoman delegation refused to listen as the Georgians were not party to the treaty, nor even a recognized state. By 10 April Chkhenkeli agreed to use the Treaty as a basis for negotiations, though this was largely a formality, as the Ottoman forces had occupied most of the territory they were promised.

Government positions

Chkhenkeli served as prime minister and as foreign minister of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, which united Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia; his cabinet reflected the diversity of the republic, with Armenians holding four positions, Azerbaijanis five, and Georgians four. Chkhenkeli stated five main goals for the newly formed state: drafting a constitution; finalizing its borders; ending the war; suppressing anarchy within the state; and land reform. With continued pressure from Ottoman forces, Chkhenkeli urged other Georgian leaders that independence for Georgia was the best course of action, which they consented to, forming the Democratic Republic of Georgia on 26 May 1918, with Chkhenkeli remaining as foreign minister. In this capacity he signed a treaty with the German forces in the Caucasus for protection, and travelled to Berlin for further negotiations. With the conclusion of the war and defeat of Germany, Chkhenkeli, who was pro-German, was replaced as foreign minister by Evgeni Gegechkori, who was more pro-French. He did lead the Georgian delegation to the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

, but achieved nothing for Georgia there. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Georgia in 1919. On 26 January 1921 the Georgian government appointed him Minister to France; however the day he presented his credentials to the French President, 26 February, was the same day the Red Army occupied Tbilisi, effectively ending the Democratic Republic of Georgia. He remained in exile in Paris, and opposed the Soviet Union until his death in 1959.

Notes

Bibliography

Чхенкели, Акакий Иванович
* * *

External links

(French) Akaki Tchenkéli
.
(French) Ière République de Géorgie
.
(French) Ière République de Géorgie en exil
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chkhenkeli, Akaki 1874 births 1959 deaths People from Tkvarcheli District People from Sukhum Okrug Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Mensheviks Members of the 4th State Duma of the Russian Empire Russian Constituent Assembly members Social Democratic Party of Georgia politicians Foreign Ministers of Georgia Government ministers of Georgia (country) Democratic Republic of Georgia Diplomats of Georgia (country) Revolutionaries from Georgia (country) Journalists from Georgia (country) Jurists from Georgia (country) Members of the Grand Orient of Russia's Peoples Georgian independence activists Georgian exiles Georgian emigrants to France Burials at Leuville cemetery