Zurab Avalishvili ( ka, ზურაბ ავალიშვილი; 1876 – May 21, 1944) was a Georgian historian, jurist and diplomat in the service of the

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 ...

Biography

Avalishvili was born 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 (then part of 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 ...

), into the family of Prince David

Avalishvili The House of Avalishvili ( ka, ავალიშვილი) is a Georgian noble family, which branched off the Panaskerteli-Tsitsishvili house in the 16th century. The initial appanage of the family was located in the historical area called ...

. He graduated from

St. Petersburg University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

in 1900 and, from 1900 to 1903, took post-graduate courses at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

Department of Law. He became a

Docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

at the St. Petersburg University in 1904 and a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Public Law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

at the St. Petersburg Polytechnical Institute in 1907. He was an adviser to the Russian Ministry of Trade and Commerce for many years. After the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

in Russia, Avalishvili was named a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

by the

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

in May 1917. However, when Georgia declared independence on May 26, 1918, Avalishvili returned to his homeland and entered the Georgian diplomatic service, becoming Georgia's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He conducted important diplomatic work for the country as a member of the Georgian delegation to the 1919

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

. The

Red Army invasion of Georgia The Red Army invasion of Georgia (12 February17 March 1921), also known as the Georgian–Soviet War or the Soviet invasion of Georgia,Debo, R. (1992). ''Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918-1921'', pp. 182, 361� ...

forced Avalishvili into exile in March 1921. He lived thereafter in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where he worked as a Professor at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. He was one of the founding members of the Georgian Association in Germany and worked for the editorial boards of historical journals ''Georgica'' (

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 ...

) and ''Byzantion'' (

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

). He died in 1944, in Germany but was repatried and buried at the

Didube Pantheon The Didube Pantheon ( ka, დიდუბის მწერალთა და საზოგადო მოღვაწეთა პანთეონი) is a cemetery in Tbilisi, Georgia, where some of the most prominent writers, artists, sc ...

, Tbilisi, in 1994.

Academic workds

Avalishvili’s main works focuses on the history of

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 ...

and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, Georgian literature (e.g., the critical studies of

Shota Rustaveli Shota Rustaveli ( ka, შოთა რუსთაველი, – after c. 1220), mononymously known simply as Rustaveli, was a medieval Georgian poet. He is considered to be the pre-eminent poet of the Georgian Golden Age and one of the g ...

), international law and Georgia’s foreign relations. His ''The Independence of Georgia in International Politics, 1918-1921'' is a detailed and well-documented first-hand account of Georgia’s relations with its neighbors, the nation’s struggle for recognition and its international ramifications in the period of 1918 to 1921. Much of the works is in diary form, the author being judiciously critical of ineptitude of the Caucasian governments.Smele, Jonathan D. (2006), ''The Russian Revolution and Civil War, 1917-1921: An Annotated Bibliography'', pp. 467-8. Continuum International Publishing Group, . Some of the main works by Zurab Avalishvili include: * "Joining of Georgia to Russia" (a monograph), St.Petersburg, 1901, 1906 (in Russian) * "The Independence of Georgia in the International Politics of 1918–1921" (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1925 * "Questions of "

The Knight in the Panther's Skin ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

"" (a monograph), Paris, 1931 (in Georgian) * "Geschichte Georgiens" (a monograph), Muenchen, 1944 (in German) * "King Teimuraz I and his work "Martyrdom of Queen Ketevan"" (a monograph), Paris, 1938 (in Georgian) * "History of the Caucasian Politics" (a monograph).- J. "Kavkaz", Muenchen, No 35-40, 1936-1937 (in Russian) * "Geographie et legende dans un ecrit apocriphe de Saint Basile".- J. "Revue de l'Orient Christien", 3 serie, Paris, 1927–28, t. 6 (26), No 3-4 (in French) * "A fifteenth-century Georgian painting in the Metropolitan Museum".- J. "Georgica", London, vol. 1, No 1, 1935 * "The Cross from Overseas".- J. "Georgica", London, Vol. 1, No 2-3, 1936 * "La succession du Curopalate David d'Iberie, Dynastie de Tao".- J. "Byzantion", Bruxells, t. 7, 1933 (in French)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avalishvili, Zurab Diplomats from Tbilisi 20th-century historians from Georgia (country) Georgian exiles Writers from Tbilisi 1876 births 1944 deaths Burials at Didube Pantheon Academic staff of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University Academic staff of Tbilisi State University

Biography

Academic workds

See also

References