Dimitri Shashkini ( ka, დიმიტრი შაშკინი) (born 8 August 1975) is a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

descent, serving as the

Minister of Defense of Georgia The Minister of Defence of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს თავდაცვის მინისტრი) is the head of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia, the governmental body of Georgia in charge of the Defense Forces ...

from 4 July 2012 to 25 October 2012.

Early years

Shashkini was born on August 8, 1975 in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, to a family of Russian background stemming from

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. In 1992-1993, he attended the Greek-Georgian University, studying International Law. From 1992 through 1993, he worked as an inspector at the weapons office in the

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს შინაგან საქმეთა სამინისტრო), abbreviated MIA (''შსს''), is the highest state law enforcement agency of Geor ...

. From 1993 to 1998, he attended

Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი ''Ivane Javaxishvi ...

, graduating with a master's degree in Criminal Law with an emphasis on State, Tax and Criminal Law. He also briefly served as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

at the

Akhaltsikhe Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხე ), formerly known as Lomsia ( ka, ლომსია), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region (''mkhare'') of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is situated on both banks of a small river Potskhovi (a left ...

Military Base of the

Georgian Armed Forces The Defence Forces of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს თავდაცვის ძალები, tr), or Georgian Defence Forces (GDF), are the combined military forces of Georgia, tasked with the defense of the nation's indep ...

until 1996. In 1997-1998, Shashkini worked as a program assistant at the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

and from 1998 through 2001 as an assistant program officer at the

International Republican Institute The International Republican Institute (IRI) is an American nonprofit organization. Most of its board is drawn from the Republican Party. It is committed to advancing freedom and democracy worldwide by helping political parties to become more iss ...

(IRI). In 2001, he was promoted to resident program officer at the same institution and in 2007 became the resident country director of IRI, retaining the position until 2009. Between 1998-2008, Shashkini also provided private consulting and management services to various candidates during election campaigns. He became IRI's chief of party in 2008.

Political career

On February 2, 2009 Shashkini was appointed as the head of the newly established Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance of Georgia. On December 21, 2009 he was replaced by Khatuna Kalmaxelidze, and appointed Minister of Education and Science of Georgia. On July 4, 2012, he was moved to the position of Defense Minister of Georgia. Shashkini said Georgia's defense policy would be built around "the principle of three Ts": Total Care, Total Training, and Total Defense. On October 25, 2012, following the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

which saw the defeat of the ruling United National Movement party, Shashkini was succeeded by

Irakli Alasania Irakli Alasania ( ka, ირაკლი ალასანია) (born 21 December 1973) is a Georgian politician, soldier and former diplomat who served as the Minister of Defense of Georgia from 2012 to 2014. He was Georgia's Ambassador to th ...

as the Minister of Defense. Prior to that, on October 22, he confirmed, in a message posted on his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page that he had left Georgia, saying that he had "spent the happiest four years of my life with Mikheil Saakashvili's government and together we have all elevated Georgia to the zenith of its development."Shashkin Confirms he Left Georgia
Civil Georgia. October 22, 2012. He returned to Georgia in March 2013. Shashkini is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shashkin, Dimitri Living people Defense ministers of Georgia Education ministers of Georgia Science ministers of Georgia Tbilisi State University alumni Georgian people of Russian descent 1975 births Politicians from Tbilisi