Davit Bakradze ( ka, დავით ბაქრაძე) (born 1 July 1972) is a Georgian politician and diplomat who served as the Chairman of the

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members; of these, 120 are proporti ...

from 7 June 2008 to 21 October 2012. Bakradze's previous assignments include a member of the Parliament from the United National Movement (April 2004-September 2007), Minister for the Conflict Issues (July 2007-January 2008), Minister of Foreign Affairs (January 2008-April 2008), and the President of Georgia's special envoy to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

(April 2008-June 2008). He is a First Class State Counselor and holds a

diplomatic rank Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

of Chief Minister Counselor.

Early life and education

David Bakradze was born 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 pe ...

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

. He was educated at

Georgian Technical University Georgian Technical University (GTU, formerly V.I. Lenin Georgian Polytechnical Institute) is the main and largest technical university of Georgia. It is located in the capital city of Tbilisi. History Georgian Technical University was founded ...

and the Georgian Institute for Public Affairs ( GIPA) as well as gaining a Doctor's degree in Physics and Mathematics from Tbilisi State University. Apart from numerous high-profile government positions Bakradze has been actively involved in various educational programmes attending the Swiss International Relations Institute in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

, in 1997, and studying at George Marshall European Centre for Security Studies in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

in 1998. In 2001 Bakradze graduated from NATO Defence College,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. He has served in the

National Guard of Georgia The National Guard of Georgia (NG, ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული გვარდია, ''sak'art'velos erovnuli gvardia'') is a branch of the Defense Forces of Georgia. It is tasked with responding to external t ...

Reserve and is a

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Political career

Bakradze has been actively involved in Georgian politics since 1997. He worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia from 1997 to 2002, and for the

National Security Council of Georgia , native_name_a = , native_name_r = , type = Advisory body , seal = , seal_size = 250 , seal_caption = Seal , seal_alt = , logo = , logo_size = , logo_caption = , logo_alt = , image = , image_size = , image_caption = , im ...

from 2002 to 2004. In April 2004, he was elected to the

from the United National Movement (UNM) led by the

President of Georgia President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Mikheil Saakashvili. He chaired the Parliamentary Committee for the

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

Integration until 19 July 2007, when he was appointed as a Minister for the Conflict Issues, and hence, a chief negotiator in the

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 ...

n and

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

n affairs. In January 2008, he became the Foreign Minister of Georgia in the cabinet of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Lado Gurgenidze. On 21 April 2008 Bakradze was named to lead the UNM

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

in the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

scheduled on 21 May 2008. This decision came after the chairperson of the outgoing parliament,

Nino Burjanadze Nino Burjanadze ( Georgian: ნინო ბურჯანაძე , also romanized Burdzhanadze or Burdjanadze, born 16 July 1964) is a Georgian politician and lawyer who served as Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia from November 2001 ...

, refused, in a surprise move, to lead the party list due to her disagreement with the UNM leadership. On 7 June 2008 Bakradze was unanimously elected a chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia at that legislature's inaugural session. In 2012 he was again selected again selected to lead the UNM list for the 1 October

, which was won by the

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili ( ka, ბიძინა ივანიშვილი, also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili ; born 18 February 1956) is a Georgian politician, billionaire businessman and philanthropist, who served as Prime Minist ...

Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia ( ka, ქართული ოცნება – დემოკრატიული საქართველო, ''Kartuli ocneba – Demok’rat’iuli Sakartvelo'') is a social democratic political ...

opposition coalition. Consequently, Bakradze became the leader of the parliamentary minority, being succeeded by David Usupashvili, a Georgian Dream member, as the chairman of the parliament. In 2013, Bakradze was selected to be the UNM's candidate through internal party election, primaries for the 27 October

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

. He ended up second in the race and, shortly after the exit poll results were announced, congratulated Georgian Dream's candidate

Giorgi Margvelashvili Giorgi Margvelashvili ( ka, გიორგი მარგველაშვილი; born 4 September 1969) is a Georgian academic and politician who was the fourth President of Georgia, in office from 17 November 2013 to 16 December 2018. ...

on victory. In the 2018 election, he came in third and received nearly 11 percent of the vote; for the run-off, he announced he would support

Grigol Vashadze Grigol Vashadze ( ka, გრიგოლ ვაშაძე, also transliterated as Gregory Vashadze) (born July 19, 1958) is a Georgian politician, diplomat and a former member of the Cabinet of Georgia in the capacity of the Minister for Cultur ...

in the second round.

Recognition

Bakradze was awarded the Commander's Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland by the President of Poland (2010).

Notes

References

External links

Bakradze - Government of Georgia Website
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakradze, David 1972 births Diplomats from Tbilisi Government ministers of Georgia (country) Living people Politicians from Tbilisi Speakers of the Parliament of Georgia United National Movement (Georgia) politicians Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Foreign Ministers of Georgia Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni Ambassadors of Georgia (country) to the United States European Georgia politicians Georgian Technical University alumni