Nikoloz Chkheidze ( ka, ნიკოლოზ (კარლო) ჩხეიძე; russian: Никола́й (Карло) Семёнович Чхеи́дзе, translit=Nikolay (Karlo) Semyonovich Chkheidze) commonly known as Karlo Chkheidze ( – 13 June 1926), was a Georgian politician. In the 1890s, he promoted the

Social Democratic 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 so ...

movement in Georgia. He became a key figure in the

Russian Revolution 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 ...

(February 1917 to October 1917) as the

Menshevik The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions em ...

president of the Executive Committee of the Soviet of Petrograd (until September 1917). Later he served as president of the Transcaucasian Sejm (February 1918 to May 1918), and he held office in the

Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR; (), (). 22 April – 28 May 1918) was a short-lived state in the Caucasus that included most of the territory of the present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as ...

(April–May 1918). Later he became president of parliamentary assemblies of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, National Council,

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

and

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

(May 1918 to March 1921).

Early life and family

Chkheidze was born to an aristocratic family in

Puti Puti may refer to: * , an Indonesian title of nobility denoting Minangkabau origin * ''Puti'' (film), a Filipino psychological thriller * Puti Kaisar-Mihara, Austrian model of Minangkabau descent * Puti Tipene Watene, New Zealand politician ...

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 ...

(in the present-day Zestafoni Municipality of the

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 munic ...

province of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

). From his marriage with Alexandra Taganova (X-1943), he will have four children including a daughter who will accompany him in exile.

Political career

In 1892, Chkheidze, together with

Egnate Ninoshvili Egnate Tomas dze Ninoshvili (17 February 1859 – 12 May 1894) was a Georgian writer and social democratic activist. Early life and education Ninoshvili was born in a poor peasant family in Kela village, Guria region in western Georgia. He ...

, Silibistro Jibladze,

Noe Zhordania Noe Zhordania ( ka, ნოე ჟორდანია /nɔɛ ʒɔrdɑniɑ/; russian: Ной Никола́евич Жорда́ния; born (or ) — January 11, 1953) was a Georgian journalist and Menshevik politician. He played an eminent ro ...

and Kalenike Chkheidze (his brother), became a founder of the first Georgian Social-Democratic group, Mesame Dasi (the ''third team'').

Russia

From 1907 to 1917, Chkheidze was a member of Tiflis Gubernyia in the Russian

State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper hous ...

and gained popularity as a spokesman for the

faction within the Russian Social Democratic Party. He was an active member of the irregular freemasonic lodge, the Grand Orient of Russia’s Peoples.. In 1917, the year of the

, Chkheidze became Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet. He failed to prevent the rise of radical

Bolshevism Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, ...

and refused a post in the

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...

. However, he did support its policies and advocated revolutionary ''oboronchestvo'' (defencism). He also voted to continue the war against the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

Transcaucasia

In October 1917, the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

seized power in Russia. At the time, Chkheidze was in Georgia. He remained in Georgia and on 23 February 1918, became leader of the

Transcaucasian Federation The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR; (), (). 22 April – 28 May 1918) was a short-lived state in the Caucasus that included most of the territory of the present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as ...

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

. Some months later the federation was dissolved.

Democratic Republic of Georgia

On 26 May 1918, the Act of Independence of Georgia was adopted, Chkheidze was elected chairman of the National Council of Georgia: this Georgian Provisional Assembly decided to appoint a government, to prepare elections and to create a constitutional commission. In February 1919 he was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly of Georgia and on March 12 president of this assembly, but could not participate in its first session because he was located in Paris. Chairing the Georgian delegation to the Versailles Conference, he tried to gain the Entente's support for the Democratic Republic of Georgia. He also proposed to

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...

and to

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...

a French or British protectorate for Georgian foreign affairs and defense, but was unsuccessful. Chkheidze, who had 14 years of parliamentary life experience, oversaw the writing of the Constitution by

Razhden Arsenidze Razhden Arsenidze ( ka, რაჟდენ არსენიძე) (1 October 1880 – 24 May 1965) was a Georgian jurist, journalist, and politician. He was involved with the Georgian Social Democratic Labour Party, branch of Russian Social ...

and 14 other MPs of the majority and the opposition.

France

In March 1921, when the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

invaded Georgia, Chkheidze fled with his family to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

via

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. In 1923 and 1924, as part of the

Social Democratic Labour Party of Georgia The Social Democratic Party of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სოციალ-დემოკრატიული პარტია, tr), also known as the Georgian Menshevik Party, was a Georgian Marxist and social demo ...

in exile, Chkheidze opposed a national uprising in Georgia. Chkheidze,

Irakly Tsereteli Irakli Tsereteli, ' russian: link=no, Ира́клий Гео́ргиевич Церете́ли, ' ( – 20 May 1959) was a Georgian politician and a leading spokesman of the Social Democratic Party of Georgia and later Russian Social Democrati ...

, Datiko Sharashidze, and Kale Kavtaradze formed a group called ''Oppozitsia''. In their mind, the

and

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...

were too strong, and the unarmed Georgian people too weak. After the August Uprising of 1924, 10,000 Georgians were executed, and between 50,000 and 100,000 Georgians were deported to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...

or to Central Asia.

Death

Père-Lachaise - Division 95 - Tcheïdzé 02

On 13 June 1926, Chkheidze committed suicide, in his official residence in Leuville-sur-Orge,

. He was buried in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, in the Père Lachaise Cemetery..

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

Чхеидзе, Николай Семенович
Hronos.km.ru. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chkheidze, Nikoloz 1864 births 1926 deaths People from Imereti People from Kutais Governorate Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Mensheviks Social Democratic Party of Georgia politicians Members of the 3rd State Duma of the Russian Empire Members of the 4th State Duma of the Russian Empire Russian Constituent Assembly members Heads of state of former countries Democratic Republic of Georgia Diplomats of Georgia (country) Revolutionaries from Georgia (country) People of the Russian Revolution Members of the Grand Orient of Russia's Peoples Georgian independence activists Georgian exiles Georgian emigrants to France Politicians from Georgia (country) who committed suicide Heads of state who committed suicide Suicides in France 1926 suicides