Eduard Shevardnadze

Eduard Amvrósiyevich Shevardnadze (Georgian: ედუარდ შევარდნაძე; Mamati, Guria Region, Georgian SSR, January 25, 1928-Tbilisi, Georgia, July 7 2014) was a Georgian politician, president of his country between 1995 and 2003.

He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union under the presidency of Mikhail Gorbachev from 1985 until the dissolution of that country in 1991. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he was President of the Republic of Georgia from 1995 until on November 23, 2003, when he resigned due to mounting popular pressure following the parliamentary elections.

Career

During the Soviet Union

He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1948, after being a Komsomol instructor for two years. Little by little he climbed the party ranks until he became, in 1959, a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR.

In 1965, he was appointed Minister of Public Order, managing to be appointed Minister of Internal Affairs of the Georgian SSR in 1968 (with the rank of General of Police).

He earned a reputation for his strong rejection of corruption, which was alarming in the Republic, firing and jailing hundreds of agents. One of the best known cases of him was when he forced several prominent officials to show their watches, discovering that most of them came from the black market. He ordered the confiscation of all those suspected of having been illegally acquired. Despite his best efforts, corruption remained a problem in Georgian political life.

In 1980, he was forced to reiterate that economic and social development depended on "an all-out struggle against such negative phenomena as bribery, theft of Party property, tendencies to property privacy, theft and all that deviation from the moral norms of socialism."

A corruption scandal in 1972 led to the resignation of Vasili Mzhavanadze, general secretary of the Georgian Communist Party. His fall meant the rise of Shevardnadze, since Moscow saw him as the most appropriate candidate for the job.

Already in office, during his time as General Secretary of the Georgian Communists he continued to steadfastly attack corruption and dissent.

In 1977, as part of a campaign throughout the Soviet Union, his government arrested prominent leaders of Georgian dissent under the guise of "anti-Soviet activities." Among those arrested were Merab Kostava and Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who would later become the first elected President of Georgia.

His hard line on corruption caught the attention of the Soviet leadership. He joined the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1976, and in 1978 was promoted to candidate member (non-voting) of the Central Committee Politburo.

Although he remained in the background for some years, he consolidated his reputation for his personal austerity: discarding the benefits of such a high position, he preferred to travel by public transport rather than use the limousines provided to members of the Politburo.

His aspirations were fulfilled in 1985, when Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko resigned from his post. The new general secretary of the CPSU Mikhail Gorbachev proposed him and obtained his confirmation for the position. In this way, the circle of young reformers that would govern the Soviet Union until its final dissolution in 1991 was consolidated.

As Minister of Foreign Affairs

As Soviet Foreign Minister, he was one of the publicists in the world of the policy of reforms promoted by Gorbachev (perestroika), especially the cessation of the escalation of military tension: he was the main person responsible for the withdrawal of the troops of Afghanistan, signed disarmament agreements with the United States and managed to get the Soviet Union to respect the popular option of ending the communist regimes of the Eastern Bloc.

Knowing that his political future in the Soviet Union was slim, he decided to turn to local politics in his native Georgia, which was headed for independence. For this reason, he resigned in 1990, alleging the slowness of the internal reforms and pressure from the orthodox communists present in the government.

However, when the coup attempt against Gorbachev took place in August 1991, Shevardnadze lined up with him. In 1992, he accepted the presidency of Georgia to stop the civil war. He was reelected in 1995.

Books

• Als der Eiserne Vorhang zerriss - Begegnungen und Erinnerungen. Metzler, Peter W., Duisburg 2007, [Aktualisierte, neu konzipierte und ergänzte Ausgabe von Pikri Tsarsulsa da Momawalze - Memuarebi] Die deutsche Ausgabe ist Grundlage für alle Übersetzungen und Ausgaben außerhalb der georgischen Sprache. ISBN 978-3-936283-10-5
• Когда рухнул пананес. Встречи и воспоминания. edурд севарднадзе, экс-президент Грузиии, бывший министр страных дел СССС Предисловие Александра Football. Übersetzung aus der deutschen in die russische Sprache. Russische Lizenzausgabe von "Als der Eiserne Vorhang zerriss"; Grundlage der russischen Ausgabe ist die deutsche Ausgabe. M.: Ístadательство "вропа", 2009, 428 с. ISBN 978-5-9739-0188-2
• Kui raudne eesriie rebenes. Übersetzung aus der deutschen in die estnische Sprache. Estnische Lizenzausgabe von "Als der Eiserne Vorhang zerriss"; Grundlage der estnischen Ausgabe ist die deutsche Ausgabe. Olion, Tallinn, 2009. ISBN 978-9985-66-606-7

Predecessor: Zviad Gamsajurdia	President of Georgia 1995 - 2003	Successor: Ninó Buryanadze
Predecessor: Tengiz Sigua	Prime Minister of Georgia 1993	Successor: Otar Patsatsia