Zviad Gamsakhurdia

Zviad Konstantines dze Gamsakhurdia (ზვიად კონსტანტინეს ძე გამსახურდია; Звиа́д Константи́нович Гамсаху́рдия; 31 March 1939 – 31 December 1993) was a Georgian politician, human rights activist, dissident, professor of English language studies and American literature at Tbilisi State University, and writer who became the first democratically elected President of Georgia in May 1991.

A prominent exponent of Georgian nationalism and pan-Caucasianism, Zviad Gamsakhurdia was involved in Soviet dissident movement from his youth.

His activities attracted attention of authorities in the Soviet Union and Gamsakhurdia was arrested and imprisoned numerous times.

Gamsakhurdia co-founded the Georgian Helsinki Group, which sought to bring attention to human rights violations in the Soviet Union.

Zviad Gamsakhurdia was born in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on 31 March 1939; his father, Academician Konstantine Gamsakhurdia (1893–1975), was a prominent Georgian writer during the 20th century.

He was a devout adherent of the Georgian Orthodox Church his entire life.

In 1955, Zviad Gamsakhurdia established a youth underground group.

In 1956, he was arrested due to his dissemination of writings critical of communism that exposed Soviet human rights violations.

during demonstrations in Tbilisi against the Soviet policy of de-stalinization.

He was arrested again in 1958 for distributing anti-communist literature and was confined to a mental hospital in Tbilisi.

After his release, he continued studying western languages and literature at Tbilisi State University, eventually graduating with a degree in philology and becoming a lecturer (1963–1977) and professor (1981–1990) of English language and American literature at Tbilisi State University.

In mid 1974 he co-founded a Human Rights Defense Group in Tbilisi; in 1977 he co-founded and became chairman of the Georgian Helsinki Group.

He was also active in the underground network of samizdat publishers, contributing to a wide variety of underground political periodicals.

Although he was frequently harassed and occasionally arrested for his dissidence, for a long time Gamsakhurdia avoided serious punishment, probably as a result of his family's prestige and political connections.

In 1977 the activities of the Helsinki Groups in the Soviet Union became an embarrassment to the government of Leonid Brezhnev.

This started a nationwide crackdown on human rights activists across the Soviet Union; members of the Helsinki Groups, including Gamsakhurdia and fellow dissident Merab Kostava, were arrested in April 1977.

Their imprisonment attracted international attention and in 1978 Gamsakhurdia was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

He was eventually released in 1979.

When the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev initiated his policy of glasnost, Gamsakhurdia played a key role in organizing mass pro-independence rallies held in Georgia between 1987 and 1990, in which he was joined by Merab Kostava on the latter's release in 1987.

In 1988, Gamsakhurdia became one of the founders of the Society of Saint Ilia the Righteous (SSIR), a combination of a religious society and a political party which became the basis for his own political movement.

He organized numerous pro-independence protests in Georgia, one of which in 1989 was suppressed by the Soviet Army, with Gamsakhurdia being arrested.

The following year, the brutal suppression by Soviet forces of a large peaceful demonstration held in Tbilisi on 4–9 April 1989 proved to be a pivotal event in discrediting the continuation of Soviet rule over the country.

The central Soviet government responded by the significant changes in the Georgia's leadership, replacing its heads Jumber Patiashvili and Zurab Chkheidze.

The new leadership chose a more conciliatory approach towards the opposition.

The opposition leaders arrested during the 9 April tragedy, including Zviad Gamsakhurdia, were released from prison and given a greater role in the decision-making.

Eventually, a number of underground political organizations united around Zviad Gamsakhurdia and formed the Round Table—Free Georgia coalition, which successfully challenged the ruling Communist Party of Georgia in the 1990 elections.

Gamsakhurdia was elected as the President of Georgia in 1991, gaining 87% of votes in the election.

Despite popular support, Gamsakhurdia found significant opposition from the urban intelligentsia and former Soviet nomenklatura, as well as from his own ranks.

In early 1992 Gamsakhurdia was overthrown by warlords Tengiz Kitovani, Jaba Ioseliani and Tengiz Sigua, two of which were formerly allied with Gamsakhurdia.

Gamsakhurdia was forced to flee to Chechnya, where he was greeted by Chechen president Dzhokhar Dudayev.

His supporters continued to fight the post-coup government of Eduard Shevardnadze.

In an open letter to Shevardnadze, dated 19 April 1992, Gamsakhurdia claimed that "my so-called confession was necessitated ... [because] if there had been no 'confession' and my release from the prison in 1979 had not taken place, then there would not have been a rise of the national movement."

In September 1993, Gamsakhurdia returned to Georgia and tried to regain power.

Despite initial success, the rebellion was eventually crushed by government forces with the help of the Russian military.

Gamsakhurdia was forced into hiding in Samegrelo, a Zviadist stronghold.

He was found dead in early 1994 in controversial circumstances.

His death remains uninvestigated to this day.

After the civil war ended, the government continued to suppress Gamsakhurdia's supporters, even with brutal tactics.

After Eduard Shevardnadze was overthrown during the 2003 Rose Revolution, Gamsakhurdia was rehabilitated by the President Mikheil Saakashvili.

He has been named as a 3rd "Greatest Georgian" by a TV programme "100 Greatest Georgians" launched by First Channel of Georgia.