
Grigol "Grisha" Uratadze ( ka, გრიგოლ "გრიშა" ურატაძე) (10 February 1878 – 12 February 1959) was a
Georgian Social Democratic
Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
politician, diplomat and author. His name is also spelled Grégoire Ouratadze in a
French manner.
Uratadze was born in
Atsana in the
Ozurget Uyezd (modern
Guria
Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia (country), Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 104,338 (2023), with Ozurgeti as the regional cap ...
).
In 1912, Uratadze, together with
Vlasa Mgeladze, was part of the Georgian delegation to
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, where
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...
organized his short-lived union of
social democratic factions as an alternative to Lenin's narrow notion of party unity.
[ Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'', p. 176. ]Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...
, . A close associate of
Noe Zhordania
Noe Zhordania ( ka, ნოე ჟორდანია ; ; born – January 11, 1953)შველიძე დ., საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა (1918–1921): ენციკ� ...
, he figured prominently in the development of
Menshevism
The Mensheviks ('the Minority') were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. Mensheviks held more moderate and reformist ...
in Georgia and took an active part in the establishment of an independent
republic of Georgia in 1918. As a Georgian plenipotentiary in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, he signed a 7 May 7, 1920
treaty
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...
with
Soviet Russia
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
in which Georgia's independence was
de jure
In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...
recognized. The
Red Army invasion of Georgia
The Red Army invasion of Georgia (12 February17 March 1921), also known as the Georgian–Soviet War or the Soviet invasion of Georgia,Debo, R. (1992). ''Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918-1921'', pp. 182, 361� ...
in 1921 forced him into exile to
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
where he authored several monographs and numerous articles on the revolutionary movement in Georgia and the Soviet nationalities policy.
References
Diplomats for Georgia (country)
1878 births
1959 deaths
Burials at Leuville cemetery
Georgian exiles
Emigrants from Georgia (country) to France
Memoirists from Georgia (country)
Mensheviks
People from Guria
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members
Social Democratic Party of Georgia politicians
20th-century historians from Georgia (country)
20th-century politicians from Georgia (country)
Politicians from the Russian Empire
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