Gaioz Devdariani ( ka, გაიოზ დევდარიანი) (February 2, 1901 – 1938) was a prominent

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 ...

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

politician, member of the

Georgian National Academy of Sciences The Georgian National Academy of Sciences (GNAS) ( ka, საქართველოს მეცნიერებათა ეროვნული აკადემია, tr) is a main learned society of the Georgia. It was named Georgian S ...

and a victim of the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

of 1937. Devdariani was born in the village of

Kharagauli Kharagauli ( ka, ხარაგაული) is an administrative center of Kharagauli district in Georgia. It is situated on both banks of river in a narrow and deep gorge, 280-400m above the sea level. Founding It was founded as a railway s ...

, Western

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 ...

into a large family. In 1919, Devdariani was arrested by the Menshevik Government of Georgia for plotting and masterminding an insurrection against the democratically elected government. He was imprisoned in

Metekhi Metekhi (Metechi; ka, მეტეხი) is a historic neighborhood of Tbilisi, Georgia, located (42.92N 44.34E) on the elevated cliff that overlooks the Mtkvari river. The neighborhood is home to the eponymous Metekhi Church of Assumption. ...

but managed to escape from the prison in 1920. Between 1921 and 1923, Devdariani worked in various communist ministries of

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

. From 1929 to 1931 Devdariani became the first Minister of Education of the Georgian SSR. During the same year Devdariani became the honorable member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences in the department of Economics. After only a year as a Minister, he was promoted to the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Georgian SSR. However, soon after his appointment,

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ; – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolshevik ...

(Communist Party Secretary of

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

) started agitations and provocations against Gaioz. Brothers of Devdariani, George Devdariani (commanding officer of Soviet Division in

Transcaucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

) and Shalva Devdariani held important positions in the Georgian SSR and the Communist Party. They became the first targets of Beria and

Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze Sergo Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze,, ; russian: Серго Константинович Орджоникидзе, Sergo Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze) born Grigol Konstantines dze Orjonikidze, russian: Григорий Константино ...

. In 1933, George Devdariani was shot by one of the deserters from his division. It has been alleged that Beria plotted the

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ar ...

and instructed the soldier to kill his commanding officer. In 1934 Shalva Devdariani was arrested 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 ...

and was said to have been personally executed by Beria. After learning of his brother’s arrest and execution, Devdariani resigned from his position and moved to

Zaporizhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zapor ...

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 ...

. There he became the head of a military aviation factory. Under pressure from Beria,

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

gave an order to arrest Devdariani and indict him with charges of plotting to assassinate

and of having links with exiled

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

. Devdariani was declared an "enemy of the people" and was denounced for

Trotskyism Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

. While the charges against Devdariani were entirely false, Beria, a master provocateur, persuaded Stalin to grant him an approval for Devdariani's liquidation. Before the arrest and murder of his brothers, based on his personal letters, Devdariani had lost any belief in communism and confessed to his family members of being intolerant of Stalin, Beria and the Bolsheviks. Before his final days in a Tbilisi prison cell, he hoped for the chance to emigrate to

Leuville-sur-Orge Leuville-sur-Orge (, literally ''Leuville on Orge'') is a commune south of Paris, France. It is situated in the Essonne department in the Île-de-France region. Inhabitants of Leuville-sur-Orge are known as ''Leuvillois''. Geography Situated ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where he would join the Menshevik government of

Noe Zhordania Noe Zhordania ( ka, ნოე ჟორდანია /nɔɛ ʒɔrdɑniɑ/; russian: Ной Никола́евич Жорда́ния; born (or ) — January 11, 1953) was a Georgian journalist and Menshevik politician. He played an eminent role ...

in exile. However, he was condemned to death by the

NKVD troika NKVD troika or Special troika (russian: особая тройка, osobaya troyka), in Soviet history, were the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD which would later be the beginning of the KGB) made up of three officials who issued ...

and executed in 1938.Tushurashvili, Otar, Georgian State Security Ministry Letter in Regards to Trial and Execution of Gaioz Devdariani, No. 01/03-8-45, Tbilisi, 19 October 2004 His son, Spartak Devdariani was sent to the Eastern Front in

Penal military unit Penal military units, including penal battalions, penal companies, etc., are military formations consisting of convicts mobilized for military service. Such formations may contain soldiers convicted of offenses under military law, persons enrolled ...

(being charged under Article 58 of counter-revolutionary activities) where he was killed during the

Prague Offensive The Prague offensive (russian: Пражская стратегическая наступательная операция, Prazhskaya strategicheskaya nastupatel'naya operatsiya, lit=Prague strategic offensive) was the last major military ...

. His second son David Devdariani was imprisoned for being the “son of the enemy of the people” (

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

: "сын врага народа"). He later became a political

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and ...

and activist for independent Georgia. He was finally released by the order of

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

. Devdariani published numerous books and articles about Communism and Georgia, of which the most popular one was ''The History of Communism in Georgia'', ''Narkvevebi sakartvelos komkavshiris istoriidan'' (1927, 1931), ''Sakartvelos komkavshiris ati tslis tavi'' (1927), ''Sakartvelos komkavshiris sataveebtan'' (1927) and ''Imperializmi da proletaruli revolutsia'' (1930).

See also

References

Further reading