Nino Kipiani (1877–1920s) 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 ...

lawyer and politician. A graduate of the law school in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, she was the first female lawyer in 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. ...

. As a result of her calls for the liberation of Georgia, in 1907 she was forced to move abroad, living first in Brussels with her father and then in Italy. She returned to her home country in the early 1920s.

Biography

A granddaughter of the Georgian statesman

Dimitri Kipiani Prince Dimitri Ivanes dze Kipiani ( ka, დიმიტრი ყიფიანი alternatively spelled as Qipiani) (April 14, 1814 – October 24, 1887) was a Georgian statesman, publicist, writer and translator. A leader of Georgia's liberal ...

and the daughter of Niko Kipiani and Anastasia Eristavi, Nino Kipiani was born in Kutaisi in 1877. She attended the St. Nino private school in

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 ...

, but for unknown reasons was expelled in 1898. She then studied law in Brussels, becoming the first female lawyer not only in Georgia but in the Russian Empire. In the early 1900s, she was arrested several times for her involvement in the nationalist movement. Her interest in independence was expressed as early as July 1903 in a card she sent from Brussels: "Why do we not have the will to insist on full independence from Russia? Why do not we allow our Georgia, which is the oldest of all the states and has the greatest history, to be free?"

References

1877 births 1920s deaths People from Kutaisi politicians from Kutaisi 19th-century writers from Georgia (country) 20th-century writers from Georgia (country) 20th-century women writers from Georgia (country) Lawyers from Georgia (country) Women lawyers from Georgia (country) Lawyers from the Russian Empire 19th-century lawyers from the Russian Empire Expatriates from the Russian Empire Expatriates in Belgium 20th-century lawyers from Georgia (country) 20th-century women lawyers from Georgia (country) {{Georgia-bio-stub