Vazha Lortkipanidze ( ka, ვაჟა ლორთქიფანიძე; born 29 November 1949) is a Georgian politician, former

State Minister of Georgia State Minister ( ka, სახელმწიფო მინისტრი, tr) is a position in the Government of Georgia, which can be introduced by a special law in order to oversee the government's tasks of particular importance. There can be ...

and Ambassador of Georgia to Russia, member of 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 ...

, Professor and a true member of the National Academy of Sciences of Georgia.

Early years

Lortkipanidze was born on 29 November 1949 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 ( ...

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 ...

. In 1973, he graduated from Mathematics Department of

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

and Moscow Academy of Sciences with bachelor's and then doctoral degrees. In 1983-1986, he was second and then first secretary of Central Committee of Georgian

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

during

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 tenure as the First Secretary of

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 ...

. In 1986-1988, he was the First Secretary of Mtatsminda Regional Committee of Communist Party of Georgia and then worked as the head of department in the CC of Communist Party of Georgia and in 1989-1990 as Deputy Chairman of Cabinet of Ministers of Georgia.

Political career

When

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 ...

took over with independence of Georgia, Lortkipanidze left government work finding a job at Tbilisi Research Institute, but with Shevardnadze's return to power in January 1992, he was immediately appointed Chief of Staff of Presidential Administration of Georgia, a post he held until 17 January 1995. From 1995 through 1998, he was the Ambassador of Georgia to Russia. His additional duties were representing the Georgian side in the Russian-mediated negotiations with

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

. He had good relations with high-ranking officials in the Russian government but at home he was considered pro-Russian by the opposition parties. Lortkipanidze was appointed State Minister of Georgia on 31 July 1998, shortly after Nikoloz Lekishvili resigned from the post on 26 July due to criticism on economic policies. Lortkipanidze left the post on 11 May 2000 and was replaced by Giorgi Arsenishvili. He was elected the leader of Christian-Democratic Union of Georgia in November 2002. Considered a close ally to Shevardnadze, he was appointed the head of the campaign for pro-presidential block ''Alliance for New Georgia'' in the Georgian presidential election campaign. He has a PhD in Economics and is currently a professor at Tbilisi State University. He married Irine Khomeriki in 1983 and they have two children: Nino (1984) and Ana (1993).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lortkipanidze, Vazha Diplomats for Georgia (country) Government ministers of Georgia (country) 1949 births Living people Ambassadors of Georgia (country) to Russia Members of the Parliament of Georgia Politicians from Tbilisi Tbilisi State University alumni 20th-century politicians from Georgia (country)