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

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

(CIA) officer of Georgian-

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

n origin.

Life and death

Chavchavadze was born in

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 ...

to Prince Paul

Chavchavadze The House of Chavchavadze ( ka, ჭავჭავაძე) is a Georgian noble family, formerly a princely one (tavadi), later incorporated into the Russian nobility, also with the title of Prince. History The family is first attested in the ...

(1899–1971) and

Princess Nina Georgievna of Russia Princess Nina Georgievna of Russia, (russian: link=no, Нина Георгиевна) (20 June 1901 – 27 February 1974), was the elder daughter of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna of Russia. A great-granddaught ...

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

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...

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: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

, and an

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

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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and then the United States. Chavchavadze entered the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in 1943 and served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as liaison for the

U.S. Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

supply operations to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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

Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys were a special collection of soldiers, with sizable numbers of German-Austrian recruits, of Military Intelligence Service officers and enlisted men of World War II who were trained at Camp Ritchie in Washington County, Maryland ...

. After the war, he entered

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

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 all-male '' a cappella'' singing group from Yale University. Founded in 1938, The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus is the longest-running all-male acappella group in the United State ...

, 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 ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

officer in the Soviet Union Division. After his retirement, Chavchavadze specialized in tracing the nobility of Imperial Russia and authored ''The Grand Dukes'' (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 (russian: Объединение Членов Рода Романовых, Obyedineniye Chlenov Roda Romanovykh) is an organization for descendants of the former Russian Imperial House. It was created in 1979 and of ...

. 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. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

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 (2016) He remarried, again, 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) Russian princes People of the Central Intelligence Agency House of Romanov in exile Yale University alumni British emigrants to the United States

Life and death

Marriages and children

See also

References

External links