Akaki Mgeladze ( ka, აკაკი მგელაძე; russian: Ака́кий Ива́нович Мгела́дзе; 1910–1980) was a

Soviet 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, ...

politician. He served as

First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party The First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party (; ) was the leading position in the Georgian Communist Party during the Soviet era. Its leaders were responsible for many of the affairs in Georgia and were considered the leader of the Georgian S ...

from 1952 to 1953, and before that was First Secretary of the

Communist Party of Abkhazia The Communist Party of Abkhazia (CPA) ( ab, Аԥсны Акомунисттә Апартиа; ka, აფხაზეთის კომუნისტური პარტია) is a political party in Abkhazia. The party leader is Lev Shamb ...

from 1943 until 1951, as well as previously leading both the Georgian and Abkhazian

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

and Gruzneft.

Life and career

Pre-WW2

Born in the

Guria Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 113,000 (2016), with Ozurgeti as the regional capital. Geography ...

region of

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 ...

, Mgeladze had grown up in

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

and was serving with the military on the

Transcaucasian Front Transcaucasian Front or Transcaucasus Front (russian: Закавказский Фронт) was a front of the Soviet Red Army—a military formation comparable to an army group, not a geographic military front—during the Second World War. Th ...

when he was appointed head of the Communist Party of Abkhazia by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

. Under Mgeladze,

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 ...

was made the language of instruction in Abkhazia, replacing Abkhaz and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

at the start of the 1945–46 academic year.

Friendship with Stalin

After the Second World War, Mgeladze became a confidant of Stalin, who nicknamed him “Comrade Wolf”. He made a declaration that Abkhazia would produce lemons for the entirety of the Soviet Union after Stalin repeatedly showed him lemon trees. Using his influence with Stalin, Mgeladze manoeuvred against head of the Ministry of State Security

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

, denouncing his corruption and that of Stalin’s other confidant

Candide Charkviani Kandid Charkviani ( ka, კანდიდ ჩარკვიანი, russian: Кандид Несторович Чарквиани; 1907 – 13 September 1994) was a Georgian party and government official, and First Secretary of the Communist ...

, who was an ally of Beria. Mgeladze succeeded in convincing Stalin to turn against Charkviani and strengthened his distrust of Beria. In March 1952 Mgeladze was appointed First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party by Beria, replacing Charkviani.

Resignation and later life

He held his position until he was forced out by Beria in April 1953, after the death of Stalin. Forced to admit that he took bribes while head of the Communist Party of Abkhazia, Mgeladze was only able to remain a Party member because his successor in Georgia,

Aleksandre Mirtskhulava Aleksandre Mirtskhulava or Aleksandr Iordanovich Mirtskhulava ( ka, ალექსანდრე იორდანეს ძე მირცხულავა; russian: Александр Иорданович Мирцхулава) (May 12, 1911 ...

, refused to expel him. After that he served as the chairman of the Bibnisi collective farm, located in the

Kareli district Kareli ( ka, ქარელის მუნიციპალიტეტი, ''Karelis municiṗaliṫeṫi'') is a district of Georgia, in the region of Shida Kartli. Some northern territories of the district are part of the self-proclaimed ...

of Georgia. Mgeladze wrote a memoir, ''Сталин Каким я его знал: Страницы недавнего прошлого'' (''Stalin As I Knew Him: Pages of the Recent Past''), and died in 1980. For his efforts Mgeladze was twice awarded with the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

, as well as the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

, and others.

References

Sources

* Mgeladze, Akaki. ''Сталин Каким я его знал: Страницы недавнего прошлого'' (''Stalin As I Knew Him: Pages of the Recent Past''), 2001. * Suny, Ronald Grigor. ''The Making of the Georgian Nation''. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1994. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mgeladze, Akaki 1910 births 1980 deaths First Secretaries of the Georgian Communist Party Party leaders of the Soviet Union People from Guria People from Kutais Governorate Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner