Guram Sharadze ( ka, გურამ შარაძე) (17 October 1940 – 20 May 2007) was a Georgian

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, and

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 ...

. In 1995, he founded a small nationalist movement ''Ena, Mamuli, Sartsmunoeba'' ("Language, Homeland, Faith"). He was

assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

in downtown

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 ( ...

Career

Sharadze was involved in the

anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism or anti-Soviet sentiment are activities that were actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the Soviet Union. Three common uses of the term include the following: * Anti-Sovietism in inter ...

Georgian national movement in the late 1980s and was closely associated with

Zviad Gamsakhurdia Zviad Konstantines dze Gamsakhurdia ( ka, ზვიად კონსტანტინეს ძე გამსახურდია; ; 31 March 1939 – 31 December 1993) was a Georgian politician, human rights activist, dissident, profes ...

who became, in 1991, the first elected

President of Georgia The president of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრეზიდენტი, tr) is the ceremonial head of state of Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U ...

. After Gamsakhurdia's ouster in the 1992 coup d'etat, Sharadze was in opposition to

Eduard Shevardnadze Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia (country), Georgi ...

's government. In 1995, he founded the nationalist ''Ena, Mamuli, Sartsmunoeba'' ("Language, Homeland, Religion") movement, and was elected to the

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members elected through fully pr ...

. In 2002, he spearheaded, though unsuccessfully, a drive to try to ban the

Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co- ...

religious denomination from the country,Leader of Georgian opposition movement gunned down in Tbilisi, interior ministry says.
''

WHDH-TV WHDH (channel 7) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by Sunbeam Television alongside Cambridge-licensed CW affiliate WLVI (channel 56). WHDH and WLVI share studios at Bulfinch Place (n ...

World News''. May 20, 2007. Retrieved on May 21, 2007. and was heavily criticized by the Georgian

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activists and reformist politicians for his sympathy to the group of Orthodox radicals led by the ex-priest Basil Mkalavishvili which was involved in

pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...

of the Jehovah's Witnesses. In 2003, he joined Shevardnadze's election bloc "For A New Georgia" in the controversial parliamentary elections which were widely denounced as rigged and triggered mass demonstrations concluded with the bloodless

Rose Revolution The Rose Revolution or Revolution of Roses ( ka, ვარდების რევოლუცია, tr) was a nonviolent change of power that occurred in Georgia in November 2003. The event was brought about by widespread protests over the ...

. Since then, Sharadze withdrew from politics, but attempted to organize a civic movement against

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

influences in Georgia, denouncing the

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...

as potentially more pernicious to Georgia than the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

revolution. In 2004, he was sentenced to fifteen days imprisonment for

hooliganism Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, often in connection with crowds at sporting events. A hooligan is a person that engages in illicit reckless behaviors and is a public nuisance. Etymology ...

, after he tore down posters of the Polish artist Rafal Olbinski at an exhibition at the

National Parliamentary Library of Georgia LEPL Ilia Chavchavadze National Library of Georgia ( ka, სსიპ ილია ჭავჭავაძის სახელობის საქართველოს ეროვნული ბიბლიოთეკა, ''sakartvelos ...

, labeling them as "

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

". Next year, he was briefly arrested again for insulting the rector of

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

who had launched a Western-modeled program of reforms.Ex-MP Shot Dead in Tbilisi.
''Civil Georgia''. May 21, 2007. Retrieved on May 21, 2007. Sharadze was a professor of philology at

, a Corresponding Member of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, and

Academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. Accor ...

of the Abkhazian Regional Academy of Sciences. He authored several works on Georgian literature and history, with a particular emphasis on the 1918-1921

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა, tr) was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia (country), Georgia, which exist ...

and

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-era Georgian political emigration in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Assassination

On 20 May 2007, Guram Sharadze was assassinated on Melikishvili Avenue in central Tbilisi in front of the Aldagi Insurance Company office by Giorgi Barateli, an erstwhile friend of his son. Shortly thereafter, Barateli was arrested after a minor shootout with police. Sharadze’s daughter has alleged that the killing was political and her father was murdered in order to silence a vocal and a long-time critic of the expected repatriation of Muslim Meskhetians, the group deported from Georgia in 1944 by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

.Daughter Alleges Politics Behind Ex-MP's Murder
''Civil Georgia''. July 5, 2007

References

External links

* http://guramsharadze.wordpress.com/
Guram Sharadze obituary
''

Times Online ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

''. June 4, 2007
Official profile of the Parliament of GeorgiaGeorgian former MP, Prof. Guram Sharadze murdered.
''Imedinews''. May 20, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharadze, Guram 1940 births 2007 deaths Assassinated politicians from Georgia (country) Nationalists from Georgia (country) Members of the Parliament of Georgia Philologists from Georgia (country) Deaths by firearm in Georgia (country) People murdered in Georgia (country) Anti-Islam sentiment in Georgia 20th-century historians from Georgia (country) 20th-century philologists Corresponding Members of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences Academic staff of Tbilisi State University 2007 murders in Georgia (country) Laureates of the State Prize of Georgia (country) European politicians assassinated in the 2000s Politicians assassinated in 2007