Noe Khomeriki ( ka, ნოე ხომერიკი) (1 January 1883 – 1 September 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 involved in the

Social Democrat 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 soc ...

movement who was arrested for anti-soviet activity and shot during an uprising against the Soviet state. Born in the province of

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 ...

(then part of

Kutais Governorate The Kutaisi or Kutais Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of western Georgia throughout most of its existence, and most of the Artvin Province (except t ...

, Imperial Russia), he engaged in local peasant movement and was a member of the Georgian Social Democratic (Menshevik) Party. He played a prominent role in the 1903-06 Gurian Republic, the first social-democratic self-governing territory within the Russian Empire. After the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

, Georgia became an independent democratic republic in 1918 and Khomeriki was elected to the

Constituent Assembly of Georgia The Constituent Assembly of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს დამფუძნებელი კრება, ''sak’art’velos damp’udznebeli kreba'') was a national legislature of the Democratic Republic of Georgia which ...

. He then assumed the position of Minister for Agriculture in the Georgian government. During his tenure, Khomeriki authored a successful land reform (January 1919), which redistributed the land as private property, retaining only forests, rivers and some pastureland as state property. The Red Army invasion forced the Georgian cabinet into exile to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

where Khomeriki remained a member of the

Government of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in exile After the Soviet Russian Red Army invaded Georgia and the Bolsheviks conquered the country early in 1921, the Parliament of the Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG) decided that the Government should go into exile and continue to function as the ...

.Lang, p. 241. In 1922, he secretly returned to Georgia to supervise the

Committee for Independence of Georgia The Committee for the Independence of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს დამოუკიდებლობის კომიტეტი, ''Sak’art’velos damoukideblobis komiteti'') or the Parity Committee (პარი� ...

, an underground

anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism, anti-Soviet sentiment, called by Soviet authorities ''antisovetchina'' (russian: антисоветчина), refers to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the ...

organization. However, he was arrested by the Cheka in 1923 and shot during the 1924 purge in Georgia.

Works

*N. Khomeriki, ''La Réforme agraire et l’économie rurale en Géorgie: Rapport au Congrès du Parti Social-Democrate de Géorgie, en juillet 1920'' (Paris, 1921).

Notes

Quotes

* "Comrade Koba told you that we were against you and demanded your sacking from the Committee, but I promise nothing of the sort happened and everything Koba told you was a malicious lie! Yes: a calumny to discredit us! I just wonder at the man's impudence. I know how worthless he is, but I didn't expect such 'courage.' But it turns out that he'll use any means if he thinks the ends justify them. The end in this case - the ambition - is to present himself as a great man before the nation. But... God didn't grant him the right gifts, so he has to resort to intrigues, lies and other 'bagatelles.' Such a filthy person wanted to pollute our sacred mission with sewage!"—Khomeriki's assessment of

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 Secretar ...

in a 1904 letter to a member of the

ic Central Committee for the Caucasus region. Quoted by

Simon Sebag Montefiore Simon Jonathan Sebag Montefiore (; born 27 June 1965) is a British historian, television presenter and author of popular history books and novels, including ''Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar' (2003), Monsters: History's Most Evil Men and ...

, ''Young Stalin'', page 125.

References

* Lang, David Marshall (1962). ''A Modern History of Georgia'',

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.

External links

(French) Noé Homériki
1883 births 1924 deaths People from Guria Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Mensheviks Social Democratic Party of Georgia politicians Democratic Republic of Georgia Agriculture ministers of Georgia Georgian exiles Georgian emigrants to France People from Georgia (country) executed by the Soviet Union {{Georgia-politician-stub