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

Kalmakhelidze was born on February 11, 1979, in

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

, Georgia. She graduated from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science cum laude and minored in Economics. From 2005 until 2007, she studied at Elliott School of International Affairs in

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

, obtaining her Master's in International Affairs and International Security. While in the United States, Kalmakhelidze also worked at the Georgian Mission to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. In 2006, she worked at Political Finance Research Unit of

International Foundation for Election Systems The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is an international, non-profit organization founded in 1987. Based in Arlington, Virginia, the organization provides assistance and support for elections and electoral stakeholders in ne ...

(IFES).

Political career

After returning to Georgia, Kalmakhelidze was hired as the Deputy Political Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. On December 21, 2009, she was appointed Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance. After taking office, Kalmakhelidze instituted reforms in the

penitentiary system A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

of the country, bringing 80% of the state prisons in line with European standards. Kalmakhelidze filed resignation on September 19, 2012, amid a public outrage after a

video footage Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems ...

of inmates being beaten and sodomized in a

prison emerged a day earlier. Kalmakhelidze speaks English, German, French and Russian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalmakhelidze, Khatuna 1979 births Living people Politicians from Tbilisi Government ministers of Georgia (country) Hunter College alumni Elliott School of International Affairs alumni Women government ministers of Georgia (country) 21st-century women politicians from Georgia (country) 21st-century politicians from Georgia (country)