Dimitri Shashkini ( ka, დიმიტრი შაშკინი, ) (born 8 August 1975) is a Georgian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

descent, serving as the

Minister of Defense of Georgia The Minister of Defence of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს თავდაცვის მინისტრი) is the head of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia, the governmental body of Georgia in charge of the Defence Forces o ...

from 4 July 2012 to 25 October 2012.

Early years

Shashkini was born on August 8, 1975, in

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

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, to a family of Russian background stemming from

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. In 1992-1993, he attended the Greek-Georgian University, studying International Law. From 1992 through 1993, he worked as an inspector at the weapons office in the

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს შინაგან საქმეთა სამინისტრო), abbreviated MIA (''შსს''), is the highest state law enforcement agency of Geor ...

. From 1993 to 1998, he attended

Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი, tr; often shorten ...

, graduating with a master's degree in Criminal Law with an emphasis on State, Tax and Criminal Law. He also briefly served as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

at the

Akhaltsikhe Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხე ), formerly known as Lomsia ( ka, ლომსია ), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region () of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is the administrative center of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and ...

Military Base of the

Georgian Armed Forces The Defence Forces of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს თავდაცვის ძალები, tr), or Georgian Defence Forces (GDF), are the combined military forces of Georgia, tasked with the defence of the nation's indep ...

until 1996. In 1997-1998, Shashkini worked as a program assistant at the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

and from 1998 through 2001 as an assistant program officer at the

International Republican Institute The International Republican Institute (IRI) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1983 and funded and supported by the United States federal government. Most of its board is drawn from the Republican Party. Its public mission is to a ...

(IRI). In 2001, he was promoted to resident program officer at the same institution and in 2007 became the resident country director of IRI, retaining the position until 2009. Between 1998-2008, Shashkini also provided private consulting and management services to various candidates during election campaigns. He became IRI's chief of party in 2008.

Political career

On February 2, 2009, Shashkini was appointed as the head of the newly established Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance of Georgia. On December 21, 2009, he was replaced by

Khatuna Kalmaxelidze Khatuna Kalmakhelidze ( ka, ხათუნა კალმახელიძე; born February 11, 1979) is a Georgian politician who served as the Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance from December 2009 to September 2012. Early years ...

, and appointed Minister of Education and Science of Georgia. On July 4, 2012, he was moved to the position of Defense Minister of Georgia. Shashkini said Georgia's defense policy would be built around "the principle of three Ts": Total Care, Total Training, and Total Defense. On October 25, 2012, following the

parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

which saw the defeat of the ruling

United National Movement United National Movement (UNM; ka, ერთიანი ნაციონალური მოძრაობა, tr) also colloquially known as the Natsebi is a liberal conservative political party in Georgia. Tina Bokuchava serves as the p ...

party, Shashkini was succeeded by

Irakli Alasania Irakli Alasania ( ka, ირაკლი ალასანია) (born 21 December 1973) is a Georgian politician, soldier and former diplomat who served as the Minister of Defense of Georgia from 2012 to 2014. He was Georgia's Ambassador to t ...

as the Minister of Defense. Prior to that, on October 22, he confirmed, in a message posted on his

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page that he had left Georgia, saying that he had "spent the happiest four years of my life with Mikheil Saakashvili's government and together we have all elevated Georgia to the zenith of its development."Shashkin Confirms he Left Georgia
Civil Georgia. October 22, 2012. He returned to Georgia in March 2013. Shashkini is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shashkin, Dimitri Living people Ministers of defence of Georgia Education ministers of Georgia Science ministers of Georgia Tbilisi State University alumni Georgian people of Russian descent 1975 births Politicians from Tbilisi United National Movement (Georgia) politicians