Torez Georgievich Kulumbegov ( os, Хъуылымбегты Торез; Qwelembêgte Torêž, ka, ტორეზ კულუმბეგოვი, russian: Торез Георгиевич Кулумбегов; September 2, 1938 – October 1, 2006), was a political leader of

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

Political career

Following the collapse of the

Soviet Union 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, ...

the former Soviet Autonomous Oblast which unilaterally elevated its status to Republic in 1990 and declared its independence from

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 ...

in 1991. This early

did not have a proper

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

branch of government, with the leader being the chairman of the Presidium of the South Ossetian Supreme Council, a role akin to

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

. Kulumbegov ruled as the first chairman starting in December 1990. However, he would be arrested and held prisoner by Georgian police 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 ...

from 29 January 1991 until January 1992. While he was in prison Znaur Gassiev ruled as the 2nd chairman until his release. When he returned he was restored to his previous position, however, the title was renamed to the Chairman of the State Nyhas.

Personal life

Kulumbegov died in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

on 1 October 2006 after a serious illness. He was buried in

Tskhinvali Tskhinvali ( ka, ცხინვალი ) or Tskhinval ( os, Цхинвал, Чъреба, Tskhinval, Chreba, ; rus, Цхинва́л(и), r=Tskhinvál(i), ) is the capital of the disputed ''de facto'' independent Republic of South Ossetia, in ...

.Torez Kulumbegov died
(5 October 2006)

References

, - , - Ossetian people 1938 births 2006 deaths South Ossetian politicians {{SouthOssetia-stub