Temuri Yakobashvili ( ka, თემურ იაკობაშვილი, also transliterated as Temur Iakobashvili) (born September 3, 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 ...

political scientist, diplomat, and politician, serving as State Minister for Reintegration since 2008; he was named Deputy Prime Minister in 2009. On November 20, 2010, his nomination as Ambassador to the United States was announced. After change of government in Georgia he resigned on November 8, 2013.

Personal life

Yakobashvili was born into a Georgian Jewish family in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

. He graduated from the Department of Physics at

Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი ''Ivane Javaxishvi ...

in 1984. He attended diplomatic courses at the universities of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

(1998), the Yale University World Fellows Program (2002), and the Harvard University

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

(2003). He is married to Yana Fremer and has two children, Giorgi Fremer and Miriam Yakobashvili. He speaks Georgian, Russian, Hebrew, and English.Temuri Yakobashvili – Biography
. ''The Government of Georgia''. Retrieved on November 15, 2010.

Professional career

From 1990 to 2001, he worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia where he last served as the Director of the U.S., Canada and Latin America Department. He is a co-founder of, and from 2001 to 2008 was Executive Vice-President of, the

Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies The Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies also known as Rondeli Foundation (GFSIS; ka, საქართველოს სტრატეგიისა და საერთაშორისო ურთიერთო� ...

, the largest think tank in the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

. He is also a co-founder and member of the boards of the Georgian Council on Foreign Relations and th
Atlantic Council of Georgia
and a member of the board of th
Georgian Institute of Public Affairs
He has authored several publications on national security, conflict management, and foreign relations. On January 31, 2008, he was appointed 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 ful ...

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

as State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration. He is the architect of Georgia'
strategy of engagement
with the Russian-occupied regions of

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 vi ...

and South Ossetia, which aims to "promote interaction among the divided populations of Georgia, currently separated by occupation lines." On November 20, 2010, his nomination as Ambassador to the United States was announced. In February 2012, he was awarded the Presidential Order of Excellence. The victory of the "Georgian dream" at the parliamentary elections in Georgia on October 1, 2012 and the formation of a new government under Bidzina Ivanishvili on October 25 led to changes of the diplomatic staff. So ambassador Yakobashvili took the consequences and announced his resignation on 8 November. As president

hesitated with approval of new ambassadors, suggested by the new government, it lasted until March 2013 that the successor for Yakobashvili,

Archil Gegeshidze Archil M. Gegeshidze (born 1956 in Tbilisi, Georgia) is a Georgian diplomat and scholar. He is currently the Executive Director of the Levan Mikeladze Foundation. He was Georgia's ambassador to the United States from 2013 to 2016. Academic care ...

, had been appointed.Georgia’s new ambassador to the US
dfwatch, March 20, 2013 (retrieved on April 12, 2013).

References

External links

Georgian Embassy in the U.S.
Ambassadors of Georgia to the United States of America {{DEFAULTSORT:Iakobashvili, Temur 1967 births Living people Diplomats from Tbilisi Jews from Georgia (country) Political scientists from Georgia (country) Government ministers of Georgia (country) Jewish politicians from Georgia (country) Politicians from Tbilisi People of the Russo-Georgian War Uppsala University faculty Ambassadors of Georgia (country) to the United States Alumni of the University of Birmingham Recipients of the Presidential Order of Excellence