Gela Bezhuashvili ( ka, გელა ბეჟუაშვილი) (born March 1, 1967) is 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 and served as the head of the

Georgian Intelligence Service The Georgian Intelligence Service (GIS) ( ka, საქართველოს დაზვერვის სამსახური, ''sakartvelos dazvervis samsakhuri'') is a national intelligence agency of Georgia, with its headquarters in Tb ...

from February 1, 2008 to December 27, 2013. He formerly served as Minister of Defense from February 2004 to June 2004, Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia from June 2004 to October 2005, and

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს საგარეო საქმეთა მინისტრი) is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, the governmental body of Georgia r ...

from October 19, 2005 to January 31, 2008.

Education

He was born in the

townlet Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

Manglisi Manglisi ( ka, მანგლისი, ) is a '' daba'' (townlet) in the Tetritsqaro Municipality, Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia. As of the 2014 census, it had the population of 1,441. With a recorded history going back to the 4th century, Mangl ...

, Georgia, in 1967. In 1991, he graduated from the

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

Institute of International Relations and International Law,

Kiev State University Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...

, Faculty of International Law. In 1997 obtained Master of Law degree, LL.M-International and Comparative Law,

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

(SMU)

School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, l ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In 2003 he entered the JFK School of Government,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

as a mid-career student and is a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree candidate.

Career

Bezhuashvili started his career at the Georgian Foreign Ministry in the early 1990s, including being the Envoy Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

between 1993 and 1996. Throughout the 1990s, he was also actively involved in cooperation with the Council of Europe (CoE) and served as a chief negotiator at the accession of Georgia to the CoE in 1999. He then served as deputy Defense Minister from 2000 to 2004, and Defense Minister from February 2004 to June 2004, being the first civilian to be appointed to this post in post-Soviet Georgia. From June 2004 to October 2005, he was the Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia, and replaced

Salome Zourabichvili Salome Zourabichvili ( ka, სალომე ზურაბიშვილი, ; born 18 March 1952) is a Franco-Georgian political figure and former diplomat who currently serves as the fifth President of Georgia, in office since December 2018 ...

as Minister of Foreign Affairs on October 19, 2005. In January 2008, he was replaced with

David Bakradze 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 from 7 June 2008 to 21 October 2012. Bakradze's previous assignments inc ...

as a foreign minister, and was reported to have decided to quit public life in favour of the private sector. On January 30, 2008, he was appointed a head of the Intelligence Department of Georgia, succeeding Anna Zhvania. Bezhuashvili continued to occupy the office under the new government of

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 ...

and his successor,

Irakli Garibashvili Irakli Garibashvili ( ka, ირაკლი ღარიბაშვილი, also transliterated as Gharibashvili; born 28 June 1982) is a Georgian politician and a former business executive who serves as the prime minister of Georgia since 22 ...

, until December 27, 2013, when he was replaced with Davit Sujashvili.New Chief of Intelligence Service Appointed
Civil Georgia. December 27, 2013. Since 2000, along with his official duties, he was involved in scientific research on International Law issues. He is author of the book "International legal aspects of Georgian Foreign Policy," 2003 and a number of articles. He holds the diplomatic rank of

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

and the civil service rank of State Chancellor. Bezhuashvili is married and has two sons and one daughter . He speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

and French. His brother

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

is co-owner of the television stations Mze TV and

Rustavi 2 Rustavi 2 ( ka, რუსთავი 2, tr, "Rustavi ori") is a Georgian free-to-air television channel based in Tbilisi, that was founded in 1994 in the town of Rustavi (hence its name). It is an associate member of the European Broadcasting ...

as well as member of the Georgian parliament ( United National Movement).

References

External links

* http://www.gelabezhuashvili.ge
Georgia Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Georgian Intelligence Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bezhuashvili, Gela Diplomats of Georgia (country) Government ministers of Georgia (country) 1967 births Living people Foreign Ministers of Georgia Harvard Kennedy School alumni Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 3rd Class Expatriates from Georgia (country) in the United States 21st-century politicians from Georgia (country)