250px, Elguja Gvazava Elguja "Gia" Gvazava ( ka, ელგუჯა ��იაგვაზავა) (born February 22, 1952) 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. Being a native of Georgia's autonomous republic of Abkhazia and a member of the local legislature since 1991, Gvazava was forced, along with most of the region's Georgian population, to flee the secessionist victory in Abkhazia in 1993. From March 20, 2009, to April 8, 2019, he served a chairman of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia, based in exile in the Georgian capital of

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

.Supreme Council of Abkhazia, Georgia. Biography of Elguja Gvazava.
URL
. Accessed 2011-04-15.

by

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Career

Born in

Ochamchire Ochamchire or Ochamchira ( ka, ოჩამჩირე, ; ab, Очамчыра, ''Ochamchyra''; russian: Очамчира, ''Ochamchira'') is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia, Georgia, and a centre of an eponymous district. Acc ...

Abkhaz ASSR The Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (russian: Абхазская Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика; ka, აფხაზეთის ავტონომიური ს� ...

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

, Gvazava graduated from the Sukhumi Pedagogical Institute with a degree in biology in 1974 and continued his postgraduate training at the Institute of Medical Genetics in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

from 1976 to 1981. In 1982, he acquired a position of

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de con ...

at the Sukhumi State University and, in 1991, he was elected to the Supreme Council of Abkhazia, a local legislature. Gvazava retained both his academic and legislative positions when the Georgian factions of both university and the Supreme Council were forced to relocate to Tbilisi in the aftermath of the 1992—93 war in Abkhazia. In 1995, he was further elected Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia-in-exile. Simultaneously, from 1992 to 2004, he was a member of the

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members; of these, 120 are proporti ...

. On March 20, 2009, he became a chairman of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia. He was re-elected on April 7, 2014Internet version of Abkhaz newspaper Наша Абхазия
/ref> On April 8, 2019, he was succeeded by

Jemal Gamakharia Jemal Gamakharia ( ka, ჯემალ გამახარია; born 10 January 1949) is a Georgian politician. Being a native of Georgia's autonomous republic of Abkhazia and a member of the local legislature since 1991, Gvazava was forced ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gvazava, Elguja 1952 births Living people People from Ochamchira District Mingrelians Members of the Parliament of Georgia