Giorgi Gvazava ( ka, გიორგი გვაზავა) (23 April 1869 – 20 January 1941) was 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 ...

jurist, writer and politician; one of the founding members of the Georgian National Democratic Party. Born in the village of

Nokalakevi Nokalakevi ( ka, ნოქალაქევი) also known as Archaeopolis ( grc, Ἀρχαιόπολις, "Old City") and Tsikhegoji (in Georgian "Fortress of Kuji") and according to some sources "Djikha Kvinji" in Mingrelian, is a village and ...

in western Georgia, then under the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the 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 the Great Northern War. ...

, Gvazava's became involved in politics early in the 1890s when he was among the organizers of the Freedom League (თავისუფლების ლიგა, ), which coordinated Georgian student groups in the universities of the empire.

Stephen F. Jones Stephen F. Jones (born 1953) is an English expert on post- Communist societies in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe who currently serves as Chair of Russian and Eurasian Studies at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts. Jon ...

(2005), ''Socialism in Georgian Colors: The European Road to Social Democracy, 1883-1917'', p. 56.

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

, . He also published lyrics and wrote for local press. Later, he was a founding member of the Georgian National Democratic Party, more like a group in its early days, in 1906. Centered on various newspapers, the best known of which was (კლდე; "Rock"), the party held its founding congress in June 1917, in the aftermath of 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 ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Gvazava was a member of the Georgian National Council and its presidium. After Georgia's

declaration of independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

(26 May 1918), Gvazava was elected to the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

and headed the National Democratic faction there. The 1921

Red Army invasion of Georgia The Red Army invasion of Georgia (15 February17 March 1921), also known as the Soviet–Georgian War or the Soviet invasion of Georgia,Debo, R. (1992). ''Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918-1921'', pp. 182, 361� ...

forced Gvazava into exile to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

where he died in 1941. Gvazava authored works on the politics and international relations of Georgia. He also translated into Georgian

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...

’s ''

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & Roma ...

'' (1912), ''

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...

'' (1935),

Crébillon Crébillon is a French surname. Notable people with that name include: * Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (1674–1762), French poet and tragedian * Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (13 February 1707 – 12 Apri ...

’s '' Rhadamiste et Zénobie'' (1929), and

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

’s ''

Mithridate Mithridate, also known as mithridatium, mithridatum, or mithridaticum, is a semi-mythical remedy with as many as 65 ingredients, used as an antidote for poisoning, and said to have been created by Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus in the 1st cent ...

'' (1934). In 1938, together with Anie Marcel-Paon, Gvazava produced a French translation in prose of the medieval Georgian epic ''

The Knight in the Panther's Skin ''The Knight in the Panther's Skin'' ( ka, ვეფხისტყაოსანი, tr literally "the one with the skin of a tiger") is a Georgian medieval epic poem, written in the 12th or 13th century by Georgia's national poet Shota Rustav ...

'' (''L'homme à la peau de léopard'') by

Shota Rustaveli Shota Rustaveli ( ka, შოთა რუსთაველი, c. 1160 – after c. 1220), mononymously known simply as Rustaveli, was a medieval Georgian poet. He is considered to be the pre-eminent poet of the Georgian Golden Age and one of th ...

. Assatiani, Nodar & Bendianachvili, Alexandre (1997), ''Histoire de la Géorgie'', p. 151. L'Harmattan, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gvazava, Giorgi 1869 births 1941 deaths People from Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Mingrelians National Democratic Party (Georgia) politicians Journalists from Georgia (country) Jurists from Georgia (country) Translators from Georgia (country) Emigrants from Georgia (country) to France People from the Russian Empire