Guram Gabeskiria ( ka, გურამ გაბესკირია; 2 March 1947 – 27 September 1993) was a Georgian Abkhaz politician who served as mayor of

Sukhumi Sukhumi or Sokhumi is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the Capital city, capital and largest city of Abkhazia, a partially recognised state that most countries consider a part of Georgia (country), Georgia. The ...

. He was murdered by separatists during the

ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia The ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia, also known in Georgia as the genocide of Georgians in Abkhazia ( ka, ქართველთა გენოციდი აფხაზეთში, tr), was the ethnic cleansing, massacres, and fo ...

in 1993.

Biography

Guram Gabeskiria was born on 2 March 1947 in

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

. Gabiskia graduated from the State University of M. Gorki with a degree in history and excelled as a soccer player. He played for the Dinamo Sukhumi in the late 1960s and later continued his career in Stavropol, Minsk and Kislovodsk before joining CSKA (Tbilisi). In 1972, he became a soccer referee of republican level and two years later upgraded himself to the union level soccer referee. As a result of political tensions in the USSR in 1989 all the Georgian teams except for Dinamo Sukhumi left the Soviet championship. Gabeskiria helped to create Sukhumi-based Tskhumi soccer club (which played in the newly formed Georgian football league) where he served as a president. In 1990 he was a candidate in the elections for the parliament of Abkhazian Autonomous Republic but gave up his claims in favour of

Tamaz Nadareishvili Tamaz Nadareishvili ( ka, თამაზ ნადარეიშვილი) (19 July 1954 – 31 August 2004) was a Georgian politician who served as head of the Council of Ministers of Abkhazia, a government-in-exile for the breakaway provinc ...

. Gabeskiria became a mayor of Sukhumi in 1992 and joined the Council of Ministers and the Council of Self-Defense of Abkhazian Autonomous Republic during the

Georgian-Abkhazian War The Abkhazia conflict is a territorial dispute over Abkhazia, a region on the eastern coast of the Black Sea in the South Caucasus, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The conflict involves Georgia, the Russian Federation a ...

in 1993. When the city of

fell to the Abkhaz separatists on 27 September 1993, Gabeskiria along with other authorities from the Government of Abkhazian Autonomous Republic (

Zhiuli Shartava Zhiuli Shartava (; March 7, 1944 – September 27, 1993) was a Georgian politician and National Hero who served as the Head of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and was killed by Abkhaz militants during the ethnic cleansing ...

, Raul Eshba,

Mamia Alasania Mamia Alasania ( ka, მამია ალასანია) was a colonel of the Georgian Armed Forces, defending the Government of the Georgian Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia from Abkhaz separatists during the conflict in Abkhazia in 1990s. W ...

, and others) refused to leave the besieged city and was captured by Abkhaz militants and

North Caucasian North Caucasus or North Caucasian may refer to: Current entities * North Caucasus, the part of Russia north of the watershed divide formed by the spine of the Caucasus Mountains * North Caucasian languages * North Caucasian Federal District, create ...

mercenaries. Based on video materials, Human rights documents and witness accounts of the event, G. Gabeskiria, Z. Shartava, R. Eshba and other members of the government were dragged outside of the parliament building and forced to kneel by the Abkhaz/North Caucasian militants. Gabeskiria refused to do so by replying in

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 ...

: "Never in my life!" ("Никогда в жизни!"). Abkhazia genocide anniversary 2005

All captured members of the government including Gabeskiria were murdered by the Abkhaz militants. They were all executed without trial. In 2005, American journalist Malcolm Linton displayed his photo materials taken during the war in Abkhazia at the art gallery in Tbilisi, where Gabeskiria's son Vladimir Gabeskiria identified his father among the pile of corpses (along with Zhiuli Shartava and other members of the government), clearly visible on one of the photographs. On 27 September 2017, Gabeskiria was posthumously awarded by President

Giorgi Margvelashvili Giorgi Margvelashvili ( ka, გიორგი მარგველაშვილი; born 4 September 1969) is a Georgian academic and politician who was the fourth president of Georgia, in office from 17 November 2013 to 16 December 2018. ...

the title and Order of National Hero. His remains were uncovered and interred with military honors in Tbilisi in October 2017. On 31 October 2019, in Georgia Today, Tbilisi mayor

Kakha Kaladze Kakhaber "Kakha" Kaladze ( ka, კახაბერ "კახა" კალაძე, ; born 27 February 1978) is a Georgian politician and former footballer who has served as the Mayor of Tbilisi since November 2017. A versatile player, he ...

was reported to have announced that Gabeskiria will be honored with a statue in Tbilisi, alongside

References

External links

* * (right-click to open file) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabeskiria, Guram 1947 births 1993 deaths Soviet men's footballers Footballers from Abkhazia Men's footballers from Georgia (country) Sportspeople from Sukhumi People from Sukhumi FC Dinamo Sokhumi players FC Neman Grodno players FC Guria Lanchkhuti players Soviet football referees Men's association football players not categorized by position Mayors of Sukhumi Abkhaz–Georgian conflict Assassinated Abkhazian politicians Abkhazian politicians Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia 1993 in Georgia (country) 20th-century politicians from Georgia (country) National Heroes of Georgia FC Narzan Kislovodsk players Politicians assassinated in 1993 Asian politicians assassinated in the 1990s European politicians assassinated in the 1990s