Varlam Nikolozi dze Cherkezishvili ( ka, ვარლამ ნიკოლოზის ძე ჩერქეზიშვილი; 15 September 1846 – 18 August 1925) was a Georgian aristocrat and journalist involved in Georgian anarchist and

national liberation movements National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

Biography

Varlam Cherkezishvili 2022 stamp of Georgia

Born in

Kakheti Kakheti (; ) is a region of Georgia. Telavi is its administrative center. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta. Kakhetians speak the ...

in 1846, Cherkezishvili went to study in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, where he

Dmitry Karakozov Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov (; – ) was a Russian political activist and the first revolutionary in the Russian Empire to make an attempt on the life of a tsar. His attempt to assassinate Tsar Alexander II of Russia, Alexander II failed an ...

and joined

Sergey Nechayev Sergey Gennadiyevich Nechayev (; – ) was a Russian anarcho-communist, part of the Russian nihilist movement, known for his single-minded pursuit of revolution by any means necessary, including revolutionary terror. Nechayev fled Russia in 18 ...

's nihilist group, becoming one of Georgia's first "professional revolutionaries". For his radical activities, Cherkezishvili was tried and sentenced to

penal labour Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included in ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, but he escaped in 1876 and fled to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. In exile, he initially became involved with the Russian emigre movement, but split with them over his support for Georgian independence. This attracted him towards

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

, due to its promise of

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

for small nations, and he became a disciple of the Russian anarchist

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

. But his new-found anarchism also brought him into disagreement with other Georgian nationalists, such as

Noe Zhordania Noe Zhordania ( ka, ნოე ჟორდანია ; ; born – January 11, 1953)შველიძე დ., საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა (1918–1921): ენციკ� ...

, who he met in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1897. In 1903, Kropotkin and Cherkezishvili joined Georgy Gogelia's

Bread and Freedom Bread and Freedom () was a group of communist anarchists that had a great influence on the revolutionary movement in Russia. History The forerunner of the "Bread and Freedom" group was the "Group of Russian Anarchists Abroad", founded in 190 ...

group, established in order to distribute anarchist literature clandestinely throughout the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. They quickly attracted a following and received numerous requests for more literature to be sent, gaining particular popularity in areas of the

Pale of Settlement The Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 (''de facto'' until 1915) in which permanent settlement by Jews was allowed and beyond which the creation of new Jewish settlem ...

, such as Poland and Ukraine. Cherkezishvili himself contributed to the publication, penning a critical analysis of

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

. In the wake of the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

, Cherkezishvili, Gogelia and Kropotkin helped launched

Mikheil Tsereteli Prince Mikheil "Mikhako" G. Tsereteli also known as Michael von Zereteli ( ka, მიხეილ "მიხაკო" წერეთელი) (December 23, 1878 – March 2, 1965) was a Georgian prince, historian, philologist, sociologist ...

's anarchist periodical ''Nobati'' 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 ( ...

, contributing critiques of

state socialism State socialism is a political and economic ideology within the socialist movement that advocates state ownership of the means of production. This is intended either as a temporary measure, or as a characteristic of socialism in the transition ...

in an attempt to bring the Georgian revolutionary movement over to anarchism. But during their brief period of conflict with the

social democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

, to which a young

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 ...

contributed critiques of anarchism, they were unable to build a popular organisation and the Georgian anarchist movement slowly diminished. In 1907, Cherkezishvili, alongside

Rudolf Rocker Johann Rudolf Rocker (; March 25, 1873 – September 19, 1958) was a German anarchist writer and activist. He was born in Mainz to an artisan family. His father died when he was a child, and his mother when he was in his teens, so he spent som ...

and

Alexander Schapiro Alexander "Sanya" Moiseyevich Schapiro or Shapiro (in Russian: Александр "Саня" Моисеевич Шапиро; 1882 or 1883 – December 5, 1946) was a Russian anarcho-syndicalist activist. Born in southern Russia, Schapiro left ...

, helped organize the London Anarchist Red Cross, in order to aid political prisoners of the Russian Empire. The organisation collected money and clothing, which they sent to prisoners in Russia, and circulated petitions in protest against the political repression in the Russian Empire. That year, Cherkezishvili himself presented a petition for Georgian independence to the

Hague Peace Conference The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amon ...

, but it failed to garner any support. During this period, Cherkezishvili and Kropotkin often spoke at the Federation of Jewish Anarchists'

Jubilee Street Club The Worker's Friend Group was a Jewish anarchist group active in London's East End in the early 1900s. Associated with the Yiddish-language anarchist newspaper ''Arbeter Fraint'' ("Worker's Friend") and centered around the German emigre anarch ...

. When Kropotkin expressed support for the

Allies of World War I The Allies or the Entente (, ) was an international military coalition of countries led by the French Republic, the United Kingdom, the Russian Empire, the United States, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan against the Central Powers ...

, he was backed up by Cherkezishvili. In 1916, Cherkezishvili and Kropotkin, along with

Jean Grave Jean Grave (; October 16, 1854, Le Breuil-sur-Couze – December 8, 1939, Vienne-en-Val) was an important activist in French anarchism and the international anarchist communism movements. He was the editor of three major anarchist periodicals, ...

Charles Malato Charles Malato (1857–1938) was a French anarchist and writer. Biography He was born to a noble Neapolitan family, his grandfather Count Malato being a Field Marshal and the Commander-in-Chief of the army of the last King of Naples. Thoug ...

, Christian Cornelissen,

James Guillaume James Guillaume (16 February 1844 – 20 November 1916) was a Swiss anarchist and writer who was a leading member of the Jura federation, the anarchist wing of the First International. Later, Guillaume would take an active role in the founding ...

and ten others, signed the ''

Manifesto of the Sixteen A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, Party platform, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or Consensus decision-ma ...

'' in support of the Allied war effort. For this, they were fiercely criticised by anarchists of the internationalist position, including their former associate Georgy Gogelia, who denounced them as "anarcho-patriots". With the outbreak of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

in 1917, Cherkezishvili returned to

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 ...

, where he reunited with Gogelia and gradually fell out of contact with Kropotkin. Following the deaths of Kropotkin and Gogelia, Cherkezishvili returned to London, where he died in 1925.

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"Georgian independence petition 'found' in Oxford"
BBC News, 25 May 2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherkezishvili, Varlam 1846 births 1925 deaths 20th-century anarchists 20th-century politicians from Georgia (country) Anarchists from Georgia (country) Anarcho-communists Emigrants from the Russian Empire Georgian Socialist-Federalist Revolutionary Party politicians Immigrants to the United Kingdom Independence activists from Georgia (country) Journalists from Georgia (country) Journalists from the Russian Empire People from Kakheti Politicians from the Russian Empire

Biography

Notes

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Bibliography

Further reading

External links