David Bagrationi ( ka, დავით ბაგრატიონი, ), also known as David the Regent ( ka, დავით გამგებელი, ) (1 July 1767 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 ...

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 ...

– 13 May 1819 in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

), was a Georgian royal prince (

batonishvili ''Batonishvili'' ( ka, ბატონიშვილი) (literally "a child of batoni (lord or sovereign)" in Georgian) is a title for royal princes and princesses who descend from the kings of Georgia from the Bagrationi dynasty and is suffixe ...

), writer and scholar, was a

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of the Kingdom of

Kartl-Kakheti The Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti ( ka, ქართლ-კახეთის სამეფო, tr) (1762–1801 ) was created in 1762 by the unification of two eastern Georgian kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti. From the early 16th century, accor ...

, eastern Georgia, from December 28, 1800 to January 18, 1801. The eldest son of the last Kartli-Kakhetian, King

George XII George XII ( ka, გიორგი XII, ''Giorgi XII''), sometimes known as George XIII (November 10, 1746 – December 28, 1800), of the House of Bagrationi, was the second and last King of the Kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti in eastern Georgia from ...

by his first wife Ketevan Andronikashvili, he was educated in

(1787–1789), and served there as a colonel of the

Russian army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Force ...

from 1797 to 1798. He was proclaimed as

Heir Apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

by his father on February 22, 1799 and confirmed by the Russian

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

Paul I Paul I may refer to: *Paul of Samosata (200–275), Bishop of Antioch * Paul I of Constantinople (died c. 350), Archbishop of Constantinople *Pope Paul I (700–767) *Paul I Šubić of Bribir (c. 1245–1312), Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia *Pau ...

, an official protector of Georgia, on 18 April 1799. In 1800, he attempted to modernize the law and administration. He became a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

the same year. On his father's death in December 1800, David became the head of the Royal House of Bagrationi but was not allowed to ascend the throne of Kartli-Kakheti. David ruled briefly between the time of his father's death (December 28, 1800) and the arrival of General Knorring (May 24, 1801).Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition'', p. 357. Indiana University Press, In November 1800 the Russian Tsar had prohibited him from doing that without Russian consent. On January 18, 1801 he was surprised by a decree of Paul I declaring the annexation of the Kingdom to 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. ...

. He tried to remain in power as de facto head of state. In May 1801 Russian General Carl Heinrich Knorring removed him from power and established a provisional government headed by General Ivan Petrovich Lasarev. Prince David was brought to St Petersburg under a military escort on February 18, 1803. From 1812 to 1819, he held a seat in the Senate of the Russian Empire. He married in 1800 Princess Elene Abamelik (1770—1836), and died childless in 1819. He was buried at the

Alexander Nevsky Monastery Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alex ...

. Influenced by the ideas of French Enlightenment, he was the first Georgian translator of

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

. He was also an author of a research on Georgian history ( Georgian, 1814), ''Review of the Georgian Law'' (

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 ...

, 1811—1816), ''Abridged Manual of Physics'' (Georgian, 1818), and several poems.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:David of Georgia, Prince Politicians from Tbilisi Male writers from Georgia (country) 19th-century historians from Georgia (country) Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti David Bagrationi 1767 births 1819 deaths Writers from Tbilisi Regents of Georgia Imperial Russian Army generals Georgian generals in the Imperial Russian Army Georgian lieutenant generals (Imperial Russia) 18th-century viceregal rulers 19th-century viceregal rulers 18th-century historians from Georgia (country) Heirs apparent who never acceded Burials at the Feodorovskaya Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra