Temuri Yakobashvili ( ka, თემურ იაკობაშვილი, also transliterated as Temur Iakobashvili) (born September 3, 1967) is 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 ...

political scientist, diplomat, and politician, serving as State Minister for Reintegration since 2008; he was named Deputy Prime Minister in 2009. On November 20, 2010, his nomination as Ambassador to the United States was announced. After change of government in Georgia he resigned on November 8, 2013.

Personal life

Yakobashvili was born into a Georgian Jewish family 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 ...

. He graduated from the Department of Physics at

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

in 1984. He attended diplomatic courses at the universities of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

(1998), the Yale University World Fellows Program (2002), and the Harvard University

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

(2003). He is married to Yana Fremer and has two children, Giorgi Fremer and Miriam Yakobashvili. He speaks Georgian, Russian, Hebrew, and English.Temuri Yakobashvili – Biography
. ''The Government of Georgia''. Retrieved on November 15, 2010.

Professional career

From 1990 to 2001, he worked for the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , type= Ministry , seal= Seal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.png , seal_width = , seal_caption = Logo of the Georgian MFA , image = Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.png , image_size ...

where he last served as the Director of the U.S., Canada and Latin America Department. He is a co-founder of, and from 2001 to 2008 was Executive Vice-President of, the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, the largest think tank in the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

. He is also a co-founder and member of the boards of the Georgian Council on Foreign Relations and th
Atlantic Council of Georgia
and a member of the board of th
Georgian Institute of Public Affairs
He has authored several publications on national security, conflict management, and foreign relations. On January 31, 2008, he was appointed by the President of Georgia

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

as State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration. He is the architect of Georgia'
strategy of engagement
with the Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and

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 ...

, which aims to "promote interaction among the divided populations of Georgia, currently separated by occupation lines." On November 20, 2010, his nomination as Ambassador to the United States was announced. In February 2012, he was awarded the Presidential Order of Excellence. The victory of the "Georgian dream" at the parliamentary elections in Georgia on October 1, 2012 and the formation of a new government under

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili ( ka, ბიძინა ივანიშვილი, also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili ; born 18 February 1956) is a Georgian politician, billionaire businessman and philanthropist, who served as Prime Minist ...

on October 25 led to changes of the diplomatic staff. So ambassador Yakobashvili took the consequences and announced his resignation on 8 November. As president

hesitated with approval of new ambassadors, suggested by the new government, it lasted until March 2013 that the successor for Yakobashvili, Archil Gegeshidze, had been appointed.Georgia’s new ambassador to the US
dfwatch, March 20, 2013 (retrieved on April 12, 2013).

References

External links

Georgian Embassy in the U.S.
Ambassadors of Georgia to the United States of America {{DEFAULTSORT:Iakobashvili, Temur 1967 births Living people Diplomats from Tbilisi Jews from Georgia (country) Political scientists from Georgia (country) Government ministers of Georgia (country) Jewish politicians from Georgia (country) Politicians from Tbilisi People of the Russo-Georgian War Uppsala University faculty Ambassadors of Georgia (country) to the United States Alumni of the University of Birmingham Recipients of the Presidential Order of Excellence