Beniamin "Benia" Chkhikvishvili (also spelled Bénia Tchkhikvichvili, ka, ბენია ჩხიკვიშვილი; 1881–1924) 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 ...

politician who was involved in the

Social Democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

movement in the early 20th century. An active member of the

Menshevik The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...

party, he led the

1905 revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

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 ...

(" Gurian Republic"), a Georgian province on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. He became a de facto head of the peasant government, sometimes described by the contemporary observers as a "Gurian president" or even "Gurian king". During the short-lived independent

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა ') was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to ...

, he served as a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Tiflis 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 pe ...

, the capital of Georgia (1919–1920). After the

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, ...

invasion of Georgia, he immigrated to France, where he became an official owner of the Leuville chateau, a residence of the Georgian government-in-exile. He returned to Georgia in 1923 to take part in the preparations for a general uprising against the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

regime. He was arrested, however, and executed.

References

External links

(French) Ière République de Géorgie

(French) Ière République de Géorgie en exil
. 1881 births 1924 deaths Emigrants from Georgia (country) to France Georgian exiles Revolutionaries from Georgia (country) Mayors of Tbilisi Mensheviks People from Georgia (country) executed by the Soviet Union People from Guria People of the Russian Revolution Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Social Democratic Party of Georgia politicians Politicians from the Russian Empire {{Russia-politician-stub