Zakaria (Shakro) Bakradze ( ka, ზაქარია (შაქრო) ბაქრაძე, pl, Zachariasz Bakradze) (22 October 1868, 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 ...

– 3 December 1938) 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 ...

military officer who served as a general in the Democratic Republic of Georgia and later the Polish Army.

Family and education

Zakaria Bakradze was born to the family of

Dimitri Bakradze Dimitri Bakradze ( ka, დიმიტრი ბაქრაძე) (26 October 1826 – 10 February 1890) was a Georgian scholar who authored several influential works in the history, archaeology and ethnography of Georgia and the Caucasus. He w ...

(1826–1890), a prominent Georgian historian. He graduated from the Tiflis Cadet Corps (1890), the Moscow Infantry Cadet School (military school course, graduated to the 10th Infantry Regiment), the Officer Rifle School.

Military career

He began his military career in the Imperial Russian army and distinguished himself during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1918, he joined the national army and was a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Defence. The

Soviet invasion of Georgia The Red Army invasion of Georgia (15 February17 March 1921), also known as the Soviet–Georgian War or the Soviet invasion of Georgia,Debo, R. (1992). ''Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918-1921'', pp. 182, 361� ...

in 1921 forced him (along with thousands of other Georgian officers) into exile in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, where he received further training in the

Higher War School The National Defence University of Warsaw ( – AON) was the civil-military highest defence academic institution in Poland, located in Warszawa–Rembertów. In 2016 it was succeeded by the War Studies University. The National Defence Universit ...

. He then served in the Polish Army as Commander of Infantry (de facto deputy commander) of the

Polish 15th Infantry Division 15th "Greater Poland" Infantry Division (Polish: ''15 Wielkopolska Dywizja Piechoty'') was a unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period. Founded on February 17, 1920, and based on the ''2nd Greater Poland Rifles Division'', it actively partic ...

. * Member of the Chinese campaign of 1900-1901 *Member of the Russian-Japanese War *Member of the First World War. In 1914 he was promoted to colonel for military distinction. *Armeno-Georgian War, 1918 He was killed in a road accident near

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

on 3 December 1938.

Notes and references

* Javakhishvili, Niko. "ქართველი მხედრები პოლონეთის დროშის ქვეშ" eorgian soldiers under the Polish Banners Tbilisi, 1998. 1870 births 1938 deaths Burials in Municipal Cemeteries in Bydgoszcz Military personnel from Tbilisi People from Tiflis Governorate Polish generals Military personnel from Georgia (country) Generals from Georgia (country) Georgian emigrants to Poland Russian military personnel of World War I People of World War I from Georgia (country) Road incident deaths in Poland {{Georgia-bio-stub