David Chavchavadze (May 20, 1924 – October 5, 2014) was a British-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

author and a former

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

(CIA) officer of Georgian-

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n origin.

Life and death

Chavchavadze was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to Prince Paul Chavchavadze (1899–1971) and

Princess Nina Georgievna of Russia Princess Nina Georgievna of Russia () (20 June 1901 – 27 February 1974), was the elder daughter of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (1863–1919), Grand Duke George Mikhailovich and Princess Maria Georgievna of Greece and Denmark, Grand ...

(Romanov) (1901–1974), a descendant of a prominent Georgian noble family and the

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

n dynasty. His father, Prince Paul, was a fiction writer and translator of writings from Georgian into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, and an

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and then the United States. Chavchavadze entered the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in 1943 and served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as liaison for the U.S. Army Air Force

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...

supply operations to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. During his time in WWII, he trained at Camp Ritchie putting him among the ranks of many

Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys, part of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service (MIS) at the War Department, were an organization of soldiers in World War II with sizable numbers of German and Austrian recruits who were used primarily for interrogation of pri ...

. After the war, he entered

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

where he was a member of

The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus, also known as the SOBs, is an ''a cappella'' singing group from Yale University. Founded in 1938, The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus is the second longest continuously running underclassmen acappella group in ...

, the second longest running a cappella group in the United States. He spent more than two decades of his career as a

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

officer in the Soviet Union Division. After his retirement, Chavchavadze specialized in tracing the nobility of Imperial Russia and authored ''The

Grand Dukes Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. The title is used in some current and former independent monarchies in Europe, particularly: * in ...

'' (1989). He also published ''Crowns and Trenchcoats: A Russian Prince in the CIA'' (1989) based on his CIA experiences, and translated from Russian ''Stronger Than Power: A Collection of Stories'' by Sandji B. Balykov, an emigre Kalmyk writer. Additionally, he lectured part-time at Georgetown, The George Washington and George Mason Universities on Russian history and culture. As a grandchild of a Russian Grand Duke, he was an Associate Member of the

Romanov Family Association The Romanov Family Association (RFA, frequently written as Romanoff; ) is an organization for descendants of the former Russian Imperial House. It was created in 1979 and officially registered in Switzerland. The current head of the organization ...

. Via his mother, Chavchavadze is great-great-grandson (through Grand Duke Mikhail Nicholaevich) and simultaneously great-great-great-grandson (through Queen of Greece, Olga Constantinovna) of Nicholas I. He is also a second cousin to

King Charles III of the United Kingdom Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

via his mother as well. David Chavchavadze died in his sleep on October 5, 2014, aged 90, after a long illness.

Marriages and children

He married Helen Husted on September 13, 1952, and they were divorced in 1959. They have two daughters and three grandchildren: *''Princess'' Maria Chavchavadze (August 28, 1953) married Alexander Rasic on October 27, 1990, and they were divorced. They have one daughter: **Yelena Rasic (December 16, 1990) *''Princess'' Alexandra Chavchavadze (December 24, 1954) married Puthukuty Krishnan Ramani on November 26, 1988. They have two children: **Alexander Chavchavadze Ramani-Poduval (May 18, 1991) **Caroline Chavchavadze Ramani-Poduval (June 6, 1994) He remarried Judith Clippinger on December 28, 1959, and they were divorced in 1970. They have two children and three grandchildren: *''Princess'' Catherine Chavchavadze (December 29, 1960) married John Alan Redpath on September 22, 1990. They have two daughters: **Sophia Redpath (July 4, 1996) **Nina Nolan Redpath (October 13, 1998) *''Prince'' Michael Chavchavadze (August 1, 1966) married Colleen Quinn in 2011. They have one son: **''Prince'' David Chavchavadze (born 2016) He remarried, again, this time to Euginie de Smitt in 1979. They have one step-son, Paul George Olkhovsky (August 11, 1960).

References

External links

* Vladimir F. Wertsman
Georgian Americans. Multicultural America.
''Every Culture''.

namebase.org; accessed March 18, 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chavchavadze, David 1924 births 2014 deaths Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom American people of Russian descent American people of Georgian (country) descent Nobility of Georgia (country) Nobility from the Russian Empire People of the Central Intelligence Agency House of Romanov in exile Yale University alumni English emigrants to the United States Ritchie Boys United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II

Life and death

Marriages and children

See also

References

External links