The Vachnadze ( ka, ვაჩნაძე) 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 ...

noble family, a principal line descending from the early medieval

Donauri Donauri ( ka, დონაური) was a Georgian noble family to which belonged two ruling princes of the eastern province of Kakheti in the ninth century, and which gave origin to the latter-day noble family of Vachnadze, and, possibly, to tha ...

dynasty of Kakheti. Their offshoots were the Beburishvili (probably also Babadishvili). The family has produced several notable religious, military and cultural figures. The Vachnadze fief was centered at the village Kardenakhi. Their princely rank was recognized by 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. ...

in 1826 and 1850. An unrelated family, originally known as Onanashvili, was enfeoffed with the estate of one of the extinct lines of Vachnadze and allowed to adopt their title and surname in the 18th century.

Toumanoff, Cyril Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...

(1967). ''Studies in Christian Caucasian History'', p. 269. Georgetown University Press. Bagrationi, Ioane (1768-1830)
Vachnadze-shvili (Princes of Kakheti)
''The Brief Description of the Georgian Noble Houses''. Retrieved on January 6, 2008.

In popular culture

Bertolt Brecht gave the Vachnadze surname to the protagonist in his ''

Der kaukasische Kreidekreis ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (german: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a play by the German Modernism, modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and be ...

'' (''

The Caucasian Chalk Circle ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (german: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a ...

'') as a form of deliberate irony in that the protagonist, Grusha Vachnadze, was a poor maid in the service of a princely household.

References

Noble families of Georgia (country) Georgian-language surnames {{Georgia-noble-stub