The Georgian communist who led Lenin's last fight against Stalin's centralization
"Being shot is not enough for me; I need to be quartered! It was I who brought the 11th Army here. I betrayed my people and helped Stalin and Beria, these degenerates, enslave Georgia and bring Lenin's party to its knees." — At his NKVD trial, 1937
Born into Georgian nobility, Mdivani joined the Bolsheviks in 1903 and fought in the Caucasus revolutionary underground and Civil War. As chairman of the Georgian Sovnarkom in 1922, he led opposition to Stalin's 'autonomization' plan, defending Georgia's sovereign rights within the Soviet federation (a dispute that drew Lenin into his last political battle on Mdivani's side against Stalin and Ordzhonikidze). He joined the Left Opposition in 1923, was expelled and exiled in 1928, reinstated in 1931, and shot in 1937 during the Great Purge.
Career timeline
1903Joined the RSDLP; revolutionary activity in the Caucasus
1918–1919Member of the Revolutionary Military Council, 11th Army
1920Soviet mission to establish the Gilan Soviet Republic in northern Persia
1921RSFSR plenipotentiary in Turkey; chairman of the Georgian Revolutionary Committee
1922Chairman of Georgian Sovnarkom and Union Council of the Transcaucasian SFSR — led the Georgian opposition against Stalin
1923Joined the Left Opposition; member of the Chief Concessions Committee
1924–1928Soviet trade representative in France
1928–1931Expelled and exiled for opposition activity; reinstated after recantation in 1931
1931–1936Chairman of the Supreme Sovnarkhoz, People's Commissar of Light Industry, and First Deputy Chairman of Sovnarkom of Georgia
1937Arrested, sentenced to death for 'Trotskyist espionage and sabotage', shot 10 July
Menshevik politician who chaired the Transcaucasian Commissariat and became foreign minister of the Democratic Republic of Georgia
Born to a noble family in Martvili in 1881, he joined the Social Democratic movement as a student at Moscow University, became a Menshevik and sat in the Third State Duma from 1907 to 1912. From November 1917 to March 1918 he chaired the Transcaucasian Commissariat, then served as minister of war under the Transcaucasian Sejm. He signed the Georgian declaration of independence in May 1918 and was foreign minister, justice minister and deputy head of government of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. He left for France in March 1921 and from 1953 until his death in Paris in 1954 headed the government in exile.
Career timeline
1907–1912Member of the Third State Duma
1917Russian Provisional Government commissar for western Georgia
1917–1918Chairman of the Transcaucasian Commissariat
1918–1921Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Georgia
Stalin's closest friend turned Beria's first victim: the red prince of Abkhazia
Stalin's words to Lakoba: 'I am Koba, you are Lakoba.' On the night of December 27, 1936, after dinner at Beria's residence, he collapsed with violent vomiting. His driver testified that Lakoba's last whispered words were: 'Beria killed me.'
Bolshevik leader who governed Soviet Abkhazia from 1922 to 1936, advancing agriculture and Black Sea resort development. Stalin's close friend, he was poisoned by Beria and posthumously rehabilitated.
Career timeline
1911Expelled from Tiflis seminary for revolutionary propaganda; joined RSDLP(b) in Batumi
1917–1918Organised peasant detachment Kiaraz; deputy chairman of Sukhum Military-Revolutionary Committee
1920–1921Led underground Bolsheviks in Batumi; took part in Moscow Treaty negotiations with Turkey
1922–1930Chairman, Council of People's Commissars, Abkhaz SSR
1930–1936Chairman, Central Executive Committee, Abkhaz ASSR
