Zviad Gamsakhurdia

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Zviad Gamsakhurdia
ზვიად გამსახურდია
Gamsakhurdia in 1989
1st President of Georgia
In office 26 May 1991 – 6 January 1992
Prime Minister	Murman Omanidze (Acting) Besarion Gugushvili
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Eduard Shevardnadze (1995)
Chairman of the Supreme Council of Georgia
In office 14 November 1990 – 26 May 1991
Preceded by	Irakli Abashidze
Succeeded by	Himself as the Head of state; Akaki Asatiani as the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia
Personal details
Born	(1939-03-31)31 March 1939 Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Died	31 December 1993(1993-12-31) (aged 54) Dzveli Khibula, Georgia
Cause of death	Gunshot wound (disputed cause)
Resting place	Mtatsminda Pantheon
Political party	Round Table—Free Georgia Georgian Helsinki Union Society of St. Ilya the Righteous
Spouse(s)	Dali Lolua ​ (divorced)​ Manana Archvadze-Gamsakhurdia
Parent	Konstantine Gamsakhurdia (father)
Signature

Zviad Konstantines dze Gamsakhurdia^[1] (Georgian: ზვიად კონსტანტინეს ძე გამსახურდია; Russian: Звиа́д Константи́нович Гамсаху́рдия, romanized: Zviad Konstantinovich Gamsakhurdiya; 31 March 1939 – 31 December 1993) was a Georgian politician, human rights activist,^[2] dissident, professor of English language studies and American literature at Tbilisi State University,^[3] and writer who became the first democratically elected President of Georgia in May 1991.^[4]

A prominent exponent of Georgian nationalism and pan-Caucasianism, Zviad Gamsakhurdia was involved in Soviet dissident movement from his youth. His activities attracted attention of authorities in the Soviet Union and Gamsakhurdia was arrested and imprisoned numerous times. Gamsakhurdia co-founded the Georgian Helsinki Group, which sought to bring attention to human rights violations in the Soviet Union.

He organized numerous pro-independence protests in Georgia, one of which in 1989 was suppressed by the Soviet Army, with Gamsakhurdia being arrested. Eventually, a number of underground political organizations united around Zviad Gamsakhurdia and formed the Round Table—Free Georgia coalition, which successfully challenged the ruling Communist Party of Georgia in the 1990 elections. Gamsakhurdia was elected as the President of Georgia in 1991, gaining 87% of votes in the election. Despite popular support, Gamsakhurdia found significant opposition from the urban intelligentsia and former Soviet nomenklatura, as well as from his own ranks. In early 1992 Gamsakhurdia was overthrown by warlords Tengiz Kitovani, Jaba Ioseliani and Tengiz Sigua, two of which were formerly allied with Gamsakhurdia. Gamsakhurdia was forced to flee to Chechnya, where he was greeted by Chechen president Dzhokhar Dudayev. His supporters continued to fight the post-coup government of Eduard Shevardnadze. In September 1993, Gamsakhurdia returned to Georgia and tried to regain power. Despite initial success, the rebellion was eventually crushed by government forces with the help of the Russian military. Gamsakhurdia was forced into hiding in Samegrelo, a Zviadist stronghold. He was found dead in early 1994 in controversial circumstances. His death remains uninvestigated to this day.

After the civil war ended, the government continued to suppress Gamsakhurdia's supporters, even with brutal tactics. After Eduard Shevardnadze was overthrown during the 2003 Rose Revolution, Gamsakhurdia was rehabilitated by the President Mikheil Saakashvili. He has been named as a 3rd "Greatest Georgian" by a TV programme "100 Greatest Georgians" launched by First Channel of Georgia.

Biography

Early life and education

Zviad Gamsakhurdia was born in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on 31 March 1939;^[4] his father, Academician Konstantine Gamsakhurdia (1893–1975), was a prominent Georgian writer during the 20th century.^[5] He was a devout adherent of the Georgian Orthodox Church his entire life.^[6]

In 1955, Zviad Gamsakhurdia established a youth underground group. In 1956, he was arrested due to his dissemination of writings critical of communism that exposed Soviet human rights violations.^[4] during demonstrations in Tbilisi against the Soviet policy of de-stalinization. He was arrested again in 1958 for distributing anti-communist literature and was confined to a mental hospital in Tbilisi.^[7]

After his release, he continued studying western languages and literature at Tbilisi State University, eventually graduating with a degree in philology and becoming a lecturer (1963–1977) and professor (1981–1990) of English language and American literature at Tbilisi State University.^[4][7]

Human rights activism

In mid 1974 he co-founded a Human Rights Defense Group in Tbilisi;^[8] in 1977 he co-founded and became chairman of the Georgian Helsinki Group.^[9] He was also active in the underground network of samizdat publishers, contributing to a wide variety of underground political periodicals. Although he was frequently harassed and occasionally arrested for his dissidence, for a long time Gamsakhurdia avoided serious punishment, probably as a result of his family's prestige and political connections.^[7]

In 1977 the activities of the Helsinki Groups in the Soviet Union became an embarrassment to the government of Leonid Brezhnev.^[how?] This started a nationwide crackdown on human rights activists across the Soviet Union; members of the Helsinki Groups, including Gamsakhurdia and fellow dissident Merab Kostava, were arrested in April 1977.^[10] Their imprisonment attracted international attention and in 1978 Gamsakhurdia was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. He was eventually released in 1979.^[4][11]

In an open letter to Shevardnadze, dated 19 April 1992, Gamsakhurdia claimed that "my so-called confession was necessitated ... [because] if there had been no 'confession' and my release from the prison in 1979 had not taken place, then there would not have been a rise of the national movement."^{[12][better source needed]}

Pro-independence movement

When the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev initiated his policy of glasnost, Gamsakhurdia played a key role in organizing mass pro-independence rallies held in Georgia between 1987 and 1990, in which he was joined by Merab Kostava on the latter's release in 1987. In 1988, Gamsakhurdia became one of the founders of the Society of Saint Ilia the Righteous (SSIR), a combination of a religious society and a political party which became the basis for his own political movement.^[13] The following year, the brutal suppression by Soviet forces of a large peaceful demonstration held in Tbilisi on 4–9 April 1989 proved to be a pivotal event in discrediting the continuation of Soviet rule over the country.^[14]

The central Soviet government responded by the significant changes in the Georgia's leadership, replacing its heads Jumber Patiashvili and Zurab Chkheidze. The new leadership chose a more conciliatory approach towards the opposition. The opposition leaders arrested during the 9 April tragedy, including Zviad Gamsakhurdia, were released from prison and given a greater role in the decision-making. In recognition of his enormous popularity, Gamsakhurdia was brought into negotiations with the new Soviet Georgian leader Givi Gumbaridze over impeding legislation in the Georgia's Supreme Soviet. It passed a number of measures demanded by the opposition, paving path towards the independence. Gamsakhurdia's Round Table organization soon gained support in almost all Georgian institutions and Gamsakhurdia played a prominent role in their decisions to break their ties with the Kremlin. In February 1990, the Georgian sports association announced that it was breaking off the Soviet championships, holding its own championships with a goal of sending its team to international competitions. The ceremonies inaugurating the independent Georgian games began with Gamsakhurdia's opening remarks. The Georgian trade union organization broke off all-Union trade union organization, while the republican Komsomol declared independence from the Communist Party and all-Union Komsomol, later dissolving itself, being replaced by the new youth groups.^[15]

Head of Georgia

Rise to power

The progress of democratic reforms was accelerated and led to Georgia's first democratic multiparty elections, held on 28 October 1990. Gamsakhurdia's SSIR party and the Georgian Helsinki Union joined with other opposition groups to head a reformist coalition called "Round Table — Free Georgia" ("Mrgvali Magida — Tavisupali Sakartvelo"). The coalition won a convincing victory, with 64% of the vote, as compared with the Georgian Communist Party's 29.6%.^[16] On 14 November 1990, Zviad Gamsakhurdia was elected by an overwhelming majority as chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia, which made him de facto head of Georgia, albeit not a sovereign country yet.^[17]

Georgia held a referendum on restoring its pre-Soviet independence on 31 March 1991 in which 98.9% of those who voted declared in its favour. The Georgian parliament passed a declaration of independence on 9 April 1991, in effect restoring the 1918–1921 Georgian Sovereign state.^[18] However, it was not recognized by the Soviet Union and although a number of foreign powers granted early recognition, universal recognition did not come until the following year. Gamsakhurdia was elected president in the election of 26 May with 86.5% per cent of the vote on a turnout of over 83%.^[19]

Programme

According to Stephen F. Jones, a historian and specialist on Russian and Eurasian studies, Gamsakhurdia promoted the concept of pan-Caucasian unity, "Caucasian House".^[20] Gamsakhurdia favored regional cooperation between peoples of the Caucasus and considered concepts such as a common economic zone, a "Caucasian Forum" (a regional United Nations) and an alliance against foreign interference.^[20][21] "Caucasian House" was based on the idea of shared Ibero-Caucasian languages and common tribal and cultural identity among autochthonous Caucasian nations, such as Chechens, Circassians, Abkhazians and Georgians. An allegiance between Gamsakhurdia and Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev was seen as pivotal to its success.^[20] However, Gamsakhurdia was soon overthrown after taking office, so the "realisation of the idea of Caucasianness and the Caucasian House has never gone beyond the declaratory level or imaginative projects...".^[21]

In his election program, Gamsakhurdia argued for gradual privatization and transition from socialist command economy to capitalist market economy. He supported social market economy, a model which would synthetize "free labor and guarantees of social rights, respect for private property and social utility, free entrepreneurship and honest competition". This included support for: wage indexation, consumer protection, social protection of vulnerable groups, unemployment benefits and etc. Gamsakhurdia supported price controls for certain and the most basic products.^[22]

Policies

Domestic policy

Upon Gamsakhurdia taking office in November 1990, the Georgia’s Supreme Council under his leadership renamed the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic into “Republic of Georgia” and restored the state hymn, flag and seal of the Georgian Democratic Republic.^[23] The Supreme Council appointed Tengiz Sigua, a member of an opposition Rustaveli Society, as the chairman of the Georgian Council of Ministers (later renamed into a post of prime minister).^[17]

Though state authorities continued to operate under the 1976 Soviet Georgian Constitution, several changes were adopted following independence to create a presidential republic.^[24] Gamsakhurdia took steps to create a new military structure independent from the Soviet control. In December 1990, the Georgia’s Supreme Council adopted the law which ended Soviet military draft in Georgia. As a result, only 10 percent of eligible draftees responded to call-up, the lowest percentage among all Soviet republics. Instead, in January 1991 the Georgia’s Supreme Council approved the legislation which created the National Guard of Georgia.^[25] The first military parade was held on Independence Day in 1991, with 10,000 soldiers of the National Guard taking their oath of service in front of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia at Boris Paichadze Stadium. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, through the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Anatoly Lukyanov, instructed Gamsakhurdia to ban the creation of the Guard. The official newspaper of the Soviet Army, Krasnaya Zvezda, published an article mocking the National Guard entitled "Mr. Prefects and Mr. Guardsmen".^[26]

In August 1991, Georgia created a national bank and the legislature committed Georgia to issue its own currency in the future. In September 1991, the law on privatization was passed after long discussions on how to prevent "party-economic mafia" (a term used by Gamsakhurdia to refer to Communist Party leaders and administrators at various levels who controlled shadow economy of the Soviet Georgia) from becoming the primary beneficiary. On 3 May 1991, Gamsakhurdia issued a decree implementing fixed prices for some basic goods and lifting the national 5-percent sales tax on some food and services.^[27]

During the Soviet period, Gamsakhurdia, a major dissident, criticized concessions made by Soviet authorities to ethnic minorities in Georgia.^[28] Upon taking office in November 1990, Gamsakhurdia faced the situation of ethnic minorities, making up 30% of the population.^[29] Georgians feared that minorities, particularly Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Ossetians, would secede to join their co-ethnics outside of Georgia, which had already happened during Georgia's First Republic in 1918-1921.^[30] Anti-Georgian riots in Abkhazia and South Ossetia^[when?] fueled by local and Russian conservative military elites exacerbated Georgian concerns of fragmentation.^[31] In turn, minorities were scared by Gamsakhurdia's statements and policies, such as the repelling of Soviet treaties protecting minority rights.^[32] They started forming cultural and political organisations.^{[when?][a][32]}

For Gamsakhurdia, the state embodied the Georgian nation, while ethnic and religious minorities, such as Abkhazians, Adjarians,^[33][34][35] Armenians, Azeris, Greeks, Meskhetians,^[36] Muslims,^[37] Russians, and Ossetians, were "ungrateful guests", not proper Georgians, or Russia's fifth column, threatening Georgia's territorial integrity and national identity.^[38][39][40] According to Georgian philosopher George Khutsishvili, the nationalist slogan "Georgia for the Georgians" launched by Gamsakhurdia's followers, part of the Round Table—Free Georgia coalition, "played a decisive role" in "bringing about Bosnia-like inter-ethnic violence."^[41][42] While Gamsakhurdia may not have actually used the slogan, according to Georgian politician Ghia Nodia, "it probably expressed his true attitude".^[43][44]

Gamsakhurdia's ethnoreligious chauvinism, his nationalist and xenophobic rhetoric and his negative policies toward minorities stirred ethnic tensions in the country.^{[45][46][47][48][49]} Gamsakhurdia's stance particularly threatened the Abkhazian and Ossetian elites' privileges.^[50] Therefore, ethnic minority leaders such as Vladislav Ardzinba in Abkhazia and Torez Kulumbegov in South Ossetia employed similar rhetoric, also focusing on demographic issues.^[51]

Still, according to historian Stephen F. Jones, although Gamsakhurdia oppressed minorities, he was pragmatic.^[52] For instance, he took steps to diffuse tensions with Abkhazians and granted them over-representation in the local Abkhazian parliament with 43% of seats for 18% of the population.^[53] This proposal failed to pacify the conflict.^[54]

On 27 December 1991, the U.S. based NGO Helsinki Watch issued a report on human rights violations made by the government of Gamsakhurdia.^[55] The report included information on documented freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom of the press violations in Georgia, on political imprisonment, human rights abuses by the Georgian government and paramilitary in South Ossetia, and other human rights violations. In a report published in April 1992, Human Rights Watch noted that Gamsakhurdia had "quasi-dictatorial powers".^[41]

The first steps towards the abolition of death penalty in Georgia came during the government of Gamsakhurdia on 20 March 1991, when the Georgian Supreme Council removed this possible punishment for four economic offences not involving the use of violence.^[56] Thus, Georgia became a first former Soviet republic to take steps to abolish the death penalty.^[56][57]

Foreign policy

During his rule, Gamsakhurdia maintained that Georgia would not sign New Union Treaty or interrepublican economic treaty. Gamsakhurdia called for a boycott of the 1991 Soviet Union referendum on preserving the Union and the Georgia's Supreme Council voted to do so.^[58] On 15 June 1991, in an interview to Saarländischer Rundfunk, Gamsakhurdia said that Georgia sought an eventual membership in the European Community and the United Nations, while it would develop relations with the USSR as a foreign state.^[59]

On 6 and 7 April 1991, representatives of Armenia, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Moldova met in Chișinău, Moldova and pledged to cooperate in their independence efforts.^[60]

Gamsakhurdia forged close ties with Chechnya, Russia’s breakaway republic. Gamsakhurdia welcomed Chechnya’s declaration of independence and attended inauguration of Dzokhar Dudayev as Chechnya’s President in Grozny. While Chechnya did not receive backing from the international community, it received support and attention from Georgia, which became its only gateway to the outside world that was not controlled by Russia.^[61] As a sign of moral support, on 11 November 1991 Gamsakhurdia wrote a letter to the United Nations and Russian President Boris Yeltsin, condemning his declaration of the state of emergency in Chechnya amid its proclamation of sovereignty as "a show of force against the Chechen people".^[62]

In response to George H. W. Bush's Chicken Kiev speech which supported Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and his New Union Treaty, the government of Georgia issued a statement declaring that "the heir of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and others arrives ... and carries on propaganda in favor of the Union Treaty. Why didn't he call on Kuwait to sign the Union Treaty with Iraq?".^[63]

Civil conflicts

South Ossetia

In 1989, violent unrest broke out in South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast between the Georgian independence-minded population of the region and Ossetians loyal to the Soviet Union. South Ossetia's regional soviet announced that the region would secede from Georgia to form a "Soviet Democratic Republic". In response, the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR annulled the autonomy of South Ossetia in March 1990.^[64]

The rise of the opposition

During the 1991 Soviet coup attempt, the Russian news agency Interfax reported that Gamsakhurdia had agreed with the Soviet military that the Georgian National Guard would be disarmed, and on 23 August, he issued decrees abolishing the post of commander of the Georgian National Guard and redesignating its members as interior troops subordinate to the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs. In reality, the National Guard was already a part of the Ministry of the Interior, and Gamsakhurdia's opponents, who claimed he was seeking to abolish it, were asked to produce documents they claimed they possessed which verified their claims, but did not do so. Gamsakhurdia always maintained he had no intention of disbanding the National Guard.^[65] In defiance of the alleged order of Gamskhurdia, the sacked National Guard commander Tengiz Kitovani led most of his troops out of Tbilisi on 24 August. By this time, however, the coup had clearly failed and Gamsakhurdia publicly congratulated Russia's President Boris Yeltsin on his victory over the putschists.^[66]

Gamsakhurdia reacted angrily, accusing shadowy forces in Moscow of conspiring with his internal enemies against Georgia's independence movement. In a rally in early September, he told his supporters: "The infernal machinery of the Kremlin will not prevent us from becoming free.... Having defeated the traitors, Georgia will achieve its ultimate freedom." He shut down an opposition newspaper, "Molodiozh Gruzii," on the grounds that it had published open calls for a national rebellion. Giorgi Chanturia, whose National Democratic Party was one of the most active opposition groups at that time, was arrested and imprisoned on charges of seeking help from Moscow to overthrow the legal government. It was also reported that Channel 2, a television station, was closed down after employees took part in rallies against the government.^[67]

Coup d'état

On 22 December 1991, armed opposition supporters launched a violent coup d'état and attacked a number of official buildings including the Georgian parliament building, where Gamsakhurdia himself was sheltering. Heavy fighting continued in Tbilisi until 6 January 1992, leaving hundreds dead and the centre of the city heavily damaged. On 6 January, Gamsakhurdia and members of his government escaped through opposition lines and made their way to Azerbaijan where they were denied asylum. Armenia finally hosted Gamsakhurdia for a short period and rejected Georgian demands to extradite Gamsakhurdia back to Georgia. In order not to complicate tense relations with Georgia, Armenian authorities allowed Gamsakhurdia to move to the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya, where he was granted asylum by the rebel government of General Dzhokhar Dudayev.^[68]

It was later claimed that Russian forces had been involved in the coup against Gamsakhurdia. On 15 December 1992 the Russian newspaper Moskovskiye Novosti printed a letter claiming that the former Vice-Commander of the Transcaucasian Military District, Colonel General Sufian Bepayev, had sent a "subdivision" to assist the armed opposition. If the intervention had not taken place, it was claimed, "Gamsakhurdia supporters would have been guaranteed victory." It was also claimed that Soviet special forces had helped the opposition to attack the state television tower on 28 December.^[69]

A Military Council made up of Gamsakhurdia opponents took over the government on an interim basis.^[70] One of its first actions was to remove Gamsakhurdia as president. It reconstituted itself as a State Council and, without any formal referendum or election, in March 1992 appointed Gamsakhurdia's old rival Eduard Shevardnadze as chairman, who then ruled as de facto president until the formal restoration of the presidency in November 1995.^[71]

In exile

After his overthrow, Gamsakhurdia continued to promote himself as the legitimate president of Georgia. He was still recognized as such by some governments and international organizations, although as a matter of pragmatic politics the insurrectionist Military Council was quickly accepted as the governing authority in the country. Gamsakhurdia himself refused to accept his ouster, not least because he had been elected to the post with an overwhelming majority of the popular vote (in conspicuous contrast to the undemocratically appointed Shevardnadze).^[72][73] In November–December 1992, he was invited to Finland (by the Georgia Friendship Group of the Parliament of Finland) and Austria (by the International Society for Human Rights). In both countries, he held press conferences and meetings with parliamentarians and government officials^[74]

Death

On 31 December 1993, Zviad Gamsakhurdia died in circumstances that are still unclear. It is known that he died in the village of Dzveli Khibula in the Samegrelo region of western Georgia and later was re-buried in the village of Jikhashkari (also in the Samegrelo region). According to British press reports, his body was found with a single bullet wound to the head but, in fact, it was found with two bullet wounds to the head.

Years later Avtandil Ioseliani—counter-intelligence head of interim government—admitted that two special units were hunting Zviad on interim government's orders.^[75]

In the first days of December 1993 two members of President's personal guard also disappeared without a trace, after being sent on a scout mission.^[76][75] Some remains and ashes, never identified, were found 17 years later.^[76]

Theories

A variety of reasons has been given for Gamsakhurdia's death, which is still controversial and remains unresolved. On 14 December 2018, Constantine and Tsotne Gamsakhurdia, the former president's two sons, announced concerns about the expiration of the statute of limitations set at the end of the same year for a potential investigation into the death of their father, as Georgian law set a 25-year limit for serious crime investigations. They then announced the beginning of a hunger strike.^[77]

On 21 December, newly inaugurated President Salome Zurabishvili formally endorsed the request to expand the statute of limitations, calling Gamsakhurdia's death a "murder", a move supported by opposition and ruling party members of Parliament. Less than a week later, Parliament approved a bill to expand the statute of limitations for serious crimes from 25 to 30 years after the crime, following Constantine Gamsakhurdia's hospitalization.^[77][78][79]

On 26 December, following the setting-up of a new investigative group under the leadership of General Prosecutor Shalva Tadumadze, Tsotne Gamsakhurdia ended his hunger strike, thus promising a new investigation into his father's death. However, the investigation failed to reach any conclusion to this day, with numerous theories about Gamsakhurdia's death floating in public discourse..^[80]

Assassination

According to former deputy director of Biopreparat Ken Alibek, that laboratory was possibly involved in the design of an undetectable chemical or biological agent to assassinate Gamsakhurdia.^[81] BBC News reported that some of Gamsakhurdia's friends believed he committed suicide, "although his widow insists that he was murdered."^[82]

Suicide

Gamsakhurdia's widow later told the Interfax news agency that her husband shot himself on 31 December when he and a group of colleagues found the building where he was sheltering surrounded by forces of the pro-Shevardnadze Mkhedrioni militia.^[83]

Burial

Gamsakhurdia's death was announced by the Georgian government on January 5, 1994. Some refused to believe that Gamsakhurdia had died at all but the question was eventually settled when his body was recovered on 15 February 1994. Zviad Gamsakhurdia's remains were re-buried in the Chechen capital Grozny on 17 February 1994.^[84] On 3 March 2007, the newly appointed president of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov announced that Gamsakhurdia's grave – lost in the debris and chaos of a war-ravaged Grozny – had been found in the center of the city. Gamsakhurdia's remains were identified by Russian experts in Rostov-on-Don, and arrived in Georgia on 28 March 2007, for reburial. He was interred alongside other prominent Georgians at the Mtatsminda Pantheon on 1 April 2007.^[82] Thousands of people throughout Georgia had arrived in Mtskheta's medieval cathedral to pay tribute to Gamsakhurdia.^[85]

Personal life

In addition to Georgian, Gamsakhurdia was fluent in Russian, French, English and German.^[86]

Gamsakhurdia's second wife, Manana Archvadze-Gamsakhurdia, was the inaugural First Lady of independent Georgia.^[87] The couple had two sons, Tsotne and Giorgi.^[87]

Gamsakhurdia was a proponent of Georgian messianism: the "spiritual mission of Georgia" to be a moral example to the rest of the world. He believed that he was divinely appointed by God to lead Georgia.^[88][89][90]

Legacy

On 26 January 2004, in a ceremony held at the Kashueti Church of Saint George in Tbilisi, the newly elected President Mikheil Saakashvili officially rehabilitated Gamsakhurdia to resolve the lingering political effects of his overthrow in an effort to "put an end to disunity in our society", as Saakashvili put it. He praised Gamsakhurdia's role as a "great statesman and patriot" and promulgated a decree granting permission for Gamsakhurdia's body to be reburied in the Georgian capital, declaring that the "abandon[ment of] the Georgian president's grave in a war zone ... is a shame and disrespectful of one's own self and disrespectful of one's own nation". He also renamed a major road in Tbilisi after Gamsakhurdia and released 32 Gamsakhurdia supporters imprisoned by Shevardnadze's government in 1993–1994, who were regarded by many Georgians and some international human rights organizations as being political prisoners. In 2013, Gamsakhurdia was posthumously awarded the title and Order of National Hero of Georgia by President Mikheil Saakashvili. Along with Gamsakhurdia, the title and Order of National Hero of Georgia was also awarded to his fellow dissident and friend Merab Kostava.^[91] Saakashvili called Gamsakhurdia "a leading light of the national idea" who fought for his country's freedom "when no one could even image it".^[91] In parallel, in March 2005 the Parliament of Georgia passed resolution "About the Legal Assessment of the Events of December–January 1991-92", which denounced the overthrow of Gamsakhurdia as an "unconstitutional armed coup".^[92] Government officials as well as people pay tribute to memory of Zviad Gamsakhurdia every year on his birthday.^[93]

In 2014, the Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili announced a scholarship dedicated to Zviad Gamsakhurdia, awarded to an outstanding student studying historic literature.^[86]

In 2019, the plenary room of the Parliament of Georgia was named after Zviad Gamsakhurdia, with Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of Parliament, describing Gamsakhurdia as "the symbol of our statehood".^[94][95]

The museum honoring the life of the Gamsakhurdia is located in the village of Dzveli Khibula, where Gamsakhurdia spent the last days of his life. On 3 August 2018, by order of the director of the National Agency for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Georgia, the museum received the status of an immovable monument of cultural heritage.^[96][97]

Writings

Gamsakhurdia published important scientific works (including 4 monographs) on issues of Russian history, history of Georgian culture, history of Georgian literature, theology, and history of American poetry. He translated into Georgian language the works of William Shakespeare, Charles Baudelaire, Nikolai Gogol and others. He also wrote poems and fables, which have been published. In 1970, Zviad Gamsakhurdia became a member of the Writers' Union of Georgia, but later was expelled in 1977 for his anti-Soviet dissident activity.^[13] Gamsakhurdia was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Georgian National Academy of Sciences for his work The Language of the Forms of the Knight in a Lordly Skin.^[86]

Public image

Gamsakhurdia is acknowledged as a symbol of Georgian nationalism and Georgia's national liberation in 1990s.^[95][98] According to the 2020 Caucasus Research Resource Centers poll, 81% of Georgians consider Gamsakhurdia to be a true Georgian patriot, while 76% think that the overthrow of Gamsakhurdia was a bad thing for Georgia. 50% consider that independence would not be possible without Gamsakhurdia.^[99] According to the Cambridge University study, Gamsakhurdia is seen as one of the main Georgian national heroes of the 20th century, while his arch enemy Eduard Shevardnadze is perceived as a villain.^[100]

Selected works

• 20th century American Poetry (a monograph). Ganatleba, Tbilisi, 1972 (in Georgian)
• The Man in the Panther's Skin" in English, a monograph, Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 1984, 222 pp. (In Georgian, English summary).
• "Goethe's Weltanschauung from the Anthroposophic point of view.", Tsiskari, Tbilisi, No 5, 1984 (in Georgian), link to Georgian archive version, p.149
• Tropology (Image Language) of "The Man in the Panther's Skin", monograph). Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 1991 (in Georgian)
• Collected articles and Essays. Khelovneba, Tbilisi, 1991 (in Georgian)
• Gamsakhurdia: a Product of the Soviet Union. Janice Bohle, University of Missouri, 1997.
• The Spiritual mission of Georgia (1990)
• The Spiritual Ideals of the Gelati Academy (1989) at the Wayback Machine (archived April 28, 2007)
• "Dilemma for Humanity", Nezavisimaia Gazeta, Moscow, May 21, 1992 (in Russian)
• "Between deserts" (about the creative works of L. N. Tolstoy), Literaturnaia Gazeta, Moscow, No 15, 1993 (in Russian)
• Fables and Tales. Nakaduli, Tbilisi, 1987 (in Georgian)
• The Betrothal of the Moon (Poems). Merani, Tbilisi, 1989 (in Georgian)

See also

• Timeline of Georgian history
• Outline of Georgia (country)
• Index of Georgia (country)-related articles
• Bibliography of the history of the Caucasus
• Bibliography of the Soviet Union

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Section is in need of organization. Please help improve this section if you can. (October 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

• Georgian Media in the 90s: a Step To Liberty
• "The Transcaucasian Republics and the Coup", Elizabeth Fuller, August 1991

Media articles

• "Soviets Release Penitent Dissident", The Washington Post, 30 June 1979, retrieved 24 October 2023
• "New Leaders Show Their Old Habits; Georgia, Some Other Soviet Republics Cling to Authoritarian Ways", The Washington Post, 18 September 1991, ProQuest 307446371, retrieved 24 October 2023
• "President whose rule was divided". The Guardian. 9 June 1992.
• (in German) Johann-Michael Ginther, "About the Putch in Georgia" — Zeitgeschehen – Der Pressespiegel (Sammatz, Germany), No 14, 1992.
• "Repression Follows Putsch in Georgia!" — "Human Rights Worldwide", Frankfurt/M., No 2 (Vol. 2), 1992.
• (in Finnish) "Purges, tortures, arson, murders..." — Iltalehti (Finland), April 2, 1992.
• (in Finnish) "Entinen Neuvostoliito". Edited by Antero Leitzinger. Publishing House "Painosampo", Helsinki, 1992, pp. 114–115. ISBN 952-9752-00-8.
• "Attempted Coup Blitzed in Georgia; Two Killed" — Chicago Sun-Times, June 25, 1992.
• "Moskovskie Novosti" ("The Moscow News"), December 15, 1992.
• (in Georgian) "Iberia-Spektri", Tbilisi, December 15–21, 1992.
• J. "Soviet Analyst". Vol. 21, No: 9-10, London, 1993, pp. 15–31.
• Otto von Habsburg.- ABC (Spain). November 24, 1993.
• Robert W. Lee. "Dubious Reforms in Former USSR".- The New American, Vol. 9, No 2, 1993.
• (in English and Georgian) "Gushagi" (Journal of Georgian political émigrés), Paris, No 1/31, 1994. ISSN 0764-7247, OCLC 54453360.
• Mark Almond. "The West Underwrites Russian Imperialism" — The Wall Street Journal, European Edition, February 7, 1994.
• "Schwer verletzte Menschenrechte in Georgien" — Neue Zürcher Zeitung. August 19, 1994.
• "Intrigue Marks Alleged Death Of Georgia's Deposed Leader" — The Wall Street Journal. January 6, 1994
• "Georgians dispute reports of rebel leader's suicide" — The Guardian (UK). January 6, 1994
• "Ousted Georgia Leader a Suicide, His Wife Says" — Los Angeles Times. January 6, 1994
• "Eyewitness: Gamsakhurdia's body tells of bitter end" — The Guardian (UK). February 18, 1994.
• (in German) Konstantin Gamsachurdia: "Swiad Gamsachurdia: Dissident — Präsident — Märtyrer", Perseus-Verlag, Basel, 1995, 150 pp. ISBN 3-907564-19-7.
• Robert W. Lee. "The "Former" Soviet Bloc." — The New American, Vol. 11, No 19, 1995.
• "CAUCASUS and unholy alliance." Edited by Antero Leitzinger. ISBN 952-9752-16-4. Publishing House "Kirja-Leitzinger" (Leitzinger Books), Vantaa (Finland), 1997, 348 pp.
• (in Dutch) "GEORGIE — 1997" (Report of the Netherlands Helsinki Union/NHU), s-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands), 1997, 64 pp.
• "Insider Report" — The New American, Vol. 13, No 4, 1997.
• Levan Urushadze. "The role of Russia in the Ethnic Conflicts in the Caucasus."- CAUCASUS: War and Peace. Edited by Mehmet Tutuncu, Haarlem (The Netherlands), 1998, 224 pp. ISBN 90-901112-5-5.
• "Insider Report" — The New American, Vol. 15, No 20, 1999.
• "Gushagi", Paris, No 2/32, 1999. OCLC 54453360.
• (in Dutch) Bas van der Plas. "GEORGIE: Traditie en tragedie in de Kaukasus." Publishing House "Papieren Tijger", Nijmegen (The Netherlands), 2000, 114 pp. ISBN 90-6728-114-X.
• (in English) Levan Urushadze. "About the history of Russian policy in the Caucasus."- IACERHRG's Yearbook — 2000, Tbilisi, 2001, pp. 64–73.

Books

• Under construction

Academic journal articles

• Cheterian, Vicken (2012). "The Origins and Trajectory of the Caucasian Conflicts". Europe-Asia Studies. 64 (9): 1625–1649. doi:10.1080/09668136.2012.718415. ISSN 0966-8136. JSTOR 23274948. S2CID 144837761.

External links

• Country Studies: Georgia — U.S. Library of Congress
• Quotations related to Zviad Gamsakhurdia at Wikiquote