Salome Zourabichvili

Salome Zurabishvili made history as the first woman president of Georgia, winning the elections on November 28, 2018. Zurabishvili's independent candidacy was supported by the ruling Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party.

Born in Paris into a family of emigrants from Georgia, the woman made a brilliant diplomatic career in France, but she always dreamed of returning to her historical homeland. She returned in 2004 as a politician, and went from opposition leader to head of state.

Salome Levanovna Zurabishvili was born on March 18, 1952 in Paris. The girl's family fled to France in 1921, after the fall of the Georgian Democratic Republic, whose government included Salome's paternal grandfather, Ivan Ivanovich Zurabishvili.

Father Levan Zurabishvili worked as an engineer at a car manufacturing plant. Mother Zeynab Kedia took care of the house, raising her daughter. Living in a foreign land, parents tried to preserve their roots, culture, traditions, language.

At home, family members spoke only in Georgian. Salome spoke and read fluently both in French and in her native language. Subsequently, Levan Ivanovich became the head of the Georgian diaspora in France, founded the Georgian church in Paris.

Young Salome, while still at school, began to show interest in social activities, journalism, and then politics. The girl, together with her father, participated in rallies, helped to publish a newspaper in her native language, and translated articles into Georgian. Closer to graduation, she decided on the political vector of her education.

The girl studied almost simultaneously at the Paris Institute of Political Science and the prestigious Columbia University in New York. She graduated from the first university in 1972, the second institution in 1973. By the time of graduation, in addition to Georgian, French and Russian, she knew English, German and Italian perfectly.

After receiving her education, the girl entered the service of the French Foreign Ministry. And soon, in 1974, she received her first appointment - as the third secretary at the French Embassy in Italy. Leaving for Rome, Salome took with her the wooden chest of her grandmother, with which she arrived in Paris in 1921. From now on, this thing dear to her will accompany her on all significant trips and will return to her historical homeland in the new century.

The young woman left the diplomatic post in Italy in 1977 and until 1980 worked as the second secretary of the French permanent mission to the UN. A new position in the Center for Analysis and Forecasting of the central office of the Foreign Ministry returned Salome to France. In Paris, Zurabishvili works until 1984, after which a serious career takeoff takes place in her biography - she was appointed first secretary of the French Embassy in the United States.

The next stage of her fast-moving career was the appointment as the first secretary of the European Defense and Security Conference in Vienna. In 1988, Salome Levanovna went to another continent: until 1992, a woman served as the second secretary of the embassy in the African Republic of Chad.

After working as first secretary at the permanent French mission to NATO in 1992 and as deputy permanent representative of France to the European Union in 1993, Zurabishvili is employed exclusively in the structure of the French Foreign Ministry - she served as a technical adviser to the cabinet (1996), inspector (1997), employee of the strategy department , Security and Disarmament (1998-2001).

In 2001, Salome Levanovna heads the General Secretariat of National Defense for International Affairs and Strategy. The diplomat left this serious and responsible position in 2003 for a very good reason. Her childhood dream just came true - to become the ambassador of France in the country of her dreams.

Upon returning to the homeland of her ancestors, 52-year-old Salome Levanovna plunges into the political life of the country, which at that moment was torn apart by internal conflicts and contradictions. Eduard Shevardnadze, who actually ruled the republic for 10 years, is leaving the post of President of Georgia. The old government, accused of corruption and inability to bring the country out of the crisis, was replaced in 2004 by the government of Mikhail Saakashvili.

The new president offered the compatriot to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, and Salome Zurabishvili accepts the offer. Having received Georgian citizenship, the head of the Foreign Ministry carried out a number of reforms in the sphere of her powers. In particular, she initiated the withdrawal of Russian military bases from the territory of Georgia. Another of her decisions concerned diplomatic etiquette: the minister introduced the obligation of ambassadors of other states to appear at the presentation of credentials in a national costume - a Circassian - as a sign of respect for the host country.

There were no new reforms from the minister, and in October 2005 Zurabishvili was removed from government office following a conflict with the head of the Georgian parliament, Nino Burjanadze. The incident arose out of the work of coordinating the ambassadors, who often acted directly at the behest of the legislature. The head of the Foreign Ministry did not like this, who sharply criticized Burjanadze and the ruling United National Movement party.

Dissatisfaction with what is happening in the country and the formation of his own political views on how the republic should develop, leads Zurabishvili to the creation in 2005 of the opposition party "Georgia's Way". Further, Salome Levanovna, being one of the leaders of the opposition, fought against the Saakashvili regime. But after his victory in the next elections in 2008, she declared that there was “no democracy” in the country, and in 2010 she resigned as party head, leaving for France.

Her return to Georgia took place in 2012 in order to support businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili, who began to actively participate in the political life of his native country. It was with the support of Ivanishvili's party "Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia" that the ex-Foreign Minister became a deputy of the republic's parliament and began to rise to the highest echelons of power.

In the fall of 2018, Zurabishvili, having previously renounced French citizenship, participates in the presidential race. Having confidently won in the first round with 38.64% of the vote, the self-nominated candidate advanced to the second round, where her only rival was Grigol Vashadze from the United National Movement. As a result, with 59.52% of the votes, Salome Zurabishvili was recognized as the new president of Georgia. Triumphant photos of the people's darling on the same day adorned the front pages of newspapers.

The ex-French citizen became the first woman president in the entire history of Georgia and the last one elected by a popular vote. In 6 years, the head of state will be appointed by the electoral college.

Salome Levanovna was married twice. She met her first husband, Nikoloz Gorzestani, in Rome in 1974. The man is an ethnic Georgian by his father and Ukrainian by his mother, was born in Iran. At one time, my father changed his real surname Gugushvili to Gordzhestani, which means "Georgian by origin." The couple had two children - a son Teimuraz and a daughter Ketevani.

The woman divorced from Gorjestani even in her youth, before her departure to Africa, and for a long time did not think about her personal life. But in 1993, the diplomat met her great love - the journalist Zhanri Kashia, with whom she lived 9 happy years until the death of her husband in 2012.

Immediately after the victory, the politician gave an interview in which she said that she intends to implement the main points of her electoral program, in particular, the peaceful unification of the country, the transition to the European model of development, accession to the EU and NATO.

The lady also expressed her position in relation to Russia. According to her, now the transition to cooperation with this country is not possible.

The inauguration of the first ever female president of Georgia is scheduled for December 16, 2018.

Order of the Legion of Honor Order of Merit of France

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