Maro Makashvili ( ka, მარო მაყაშვილი; 25 August 1901 – 19 February 1921) was a young Georgian woman who was killed during 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� ...

. In 2015, she was the first woman to be awarded the Georgian Order of National Hero. Makashvili was born in a family of the Georgian nobility. Her father Konstantine Makashvili was a poet and her maternal grandmother was the writer

Ekaterine Gabashvili Ekaterine Gabashvili ( ka, ეკატერინე გაბაშვილი) née Tarkhnishvili (თარხნიშვილი) (16 June 1851 – 7 August 1938) was a Georgian writer, feminist and public figure who called for social ref ...

. Maro Makashvili was a student at the

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

when the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

launched its invasion of Georgia in February 1921. She volunteered as a nurse and was sent to

Kojori Kojori ( ka, კოჯორი) is a small town ('' daba'') in Georgia, some 20 kilometers southwest of the nation's capital of Tbilisi. It is a so-called "climate resort" and home to several holiday homesf the Tbilisite families. South of the ...

along with the Georgian Regiment. She was killed by splinters from a shell two days later. Immediately after her death Georgian poet

Titsian Tabidze Titsian Tabidze ( ka, ტიციან ტაბიძე, Mononymous person, simply referred to as Titsiani; ka, ტიციანი) (16 December 1937), was a Georgia (country), Georgian poet and one of the leaders of the Georgian Symbolism ...

compared her to

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

in a newspaper article. In her honour,

Zakaria Paliashvili Zacharia Petres dze Paliashvili ( ka, ზაქარია ფალიაშვილი, ''Zakaria Paliaşvili''), also known as Zachary Petrovich Paliashvili (russian: Захарий Петрович Палиашви́ли, ''Zacharij Petrovi� ...

used the name Maro for the heroine of his opera ''Daisi'', which premiered in 1923. A park located off Gudiashvili street in Tbilisi is named after her. From age 16 until her death, Makashvili kept a diary that is now part of the collection of the Tbilisi Museum of Literature. It has been published as a book.

References

1901 births 1921 deaths National Heroes of Georgia {{Georgia-bio-stub