Aleksi "Sasha" Gegechkori ( ka, ალექსი "საშა" გეგეჭკორი; russian: Алексей Александрович "Саша" Гегечкори, ''Aleksey Aleksandrovich Gegechkori'') (23 November 1887 – 7 June 1928) 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 ...

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

activist involved in

Sovietization Sovietization (russian: Советизация) is the adoption of a political system based on the model of soviets (workers' councils) or the adoption of a way of life, mentality, and culture modelled after the Soviet Union. This often included ...

of Georgia in 1921. Born of a noble family, Gegechkori joined the revolutionary underground in 1902 and the Bolshevik party in 1908. In 1918, he led a band of 300 pro-Bolshevik peasants in a guerrilla revolt against the

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა ') was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to ...

in the mountains of

Racha Racha (also Račha, , ''Račʼa'') is a highland area in western Georgia, located in the upper Rioni river valley and hemmed in by the Greater Caucasus mountains. Under Georgia's current subdivision, Racha is included in the Racha-Lechkhumi and ...

and

Lechkhumi Lechkhumi (Georgian: ლეჩხუმი, ''Lečxumi'') is a historic province in northwestern Georgia which comprises the area along the middle basin of the Rioni and Tskhenistskali and also the Lajanuri river valley. Now part of the Racha-Le ...

(northwest Georgia).

Suny, Ronald Grigor Ronald Grigor Suny (born September 25, 1940) is an American historian and political scientist. Suny is the William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan and served as director of the Eisenberg In ...

(1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'', p. 198.

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes 140 ...

, After the failure of this revolt, Gegechkori fought in the ranks of the

Soviet Russian The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

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 ...

against the White movement in the Terek area where he was severely wounded and had his leg amputated. Returning to Georgia, Gegechkori was arrested by Georgian police in October 1919 and tried for a treason and armed revolt. However, upon the request of Russian government and in accordance to the Russo-Georgian peace treaty of 1920, Gegechkori was released from prison. When the Red Armies eventually attacked Georgia in February 1921, Gegechkori joined the "Georgian Revolutionary Committee" and headed its division 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 ...

, Georgia’s capital. From 1922 to 1922, he served as a

People's Commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Eas ...

for Internal Affairs of the

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

and presided over a crackdown on Georgian

anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism, anti-Soviet sentiment, called by Soviet authorities ''antisovetchina'' (russian: антисоветчина), refers to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the ...

opposition. In 1924, he was moved to the post of People’s Commissar for Agriculture. At the same time, he served as a deputy chairman of the Council of Georgia’s People’s Commissars. In 1928, he committed suicide at his home in Tbilisi, reputedly under pressure of the Soviet security officer

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

who had spent several months in prison with Gegechkori in 1920 and married his niece, Nina Gegechkori in 1921.Ami Knight (1993), ''Beria: Stalin’s First Lieutenant'', p. 24.

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial su ...

, His native town of

Martvili Martvili ( ka, მარტვილი) is a small town in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti province of Western Georgia. Its monastery was Samegrelo's clerical centre in the Middle Ages. Under Soviet rule, from 1936 to 1990, it was named Gegechkori after ...

was named Gegechkori after him from 1936 to 1990.

References

External links

Алексей Александрович Гегечкори, ''Aleksey Aleksandrovich Gegechkori''.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gegechkori, Aleksi 1887 births 1923 suicides Communist Party of Georgia (Soviet Union) politicians Revolutionaries from Georgia (country) Mingrelians Old Bolsheviks People from Kutais Governorate People from Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Politicians from Georgia (country) who committed suicide Rebels from Georgia (country) Suicides in the Soviet Union 1923 deaths Suicides in Georgia (country)