Tbilisi honours army nurse, 19, who died for Georgia in 1921
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Tbilisi has a new place where citizens can rest and spend their time.
A new park opened in the Georgian capital city. Boasting trees and seating benches, the small area in front of the third building of the Georgian Parliamentary National Library on Gudiashvili St is ready to accommodate guests.
The park was given new life and new name to honour a young Georgian woman named Maro Makashvili, who became an Army nurse and died when Russian occupational troops invaded Georgia in 1921.
The Maro Makashvili Park officially opened as part of the events dedicated to the Tbilisoba 2015 celebrations yesterday.
In February 1921 Russia’s 11th Red Army advanced on Tbilisi. Georgian youth farewelled their families and departed for Kojori and Tabakhmela to fight against the Soviet Army. Makashvili, 19, joined the Red Cross as a nurse and went with the Georgian regiment that headed to Kojori. After two days she was mortally wounded by a splinter of a bomb.
Makashvili was buried alongside military school students in the yard of a former military cathedral on the territory of the current Parliament Building on Rustaveli Ave in central Tbilisi.
After learning about Makashvili’s tragic death, beloved Georgian poet Titsian Tabidze published an article in the newspaper Sakartvelo in 1921. He wrote:
"This battle killed many fighters and will take the lives of many in future but such an instant death is even more distressing - as if the Georgian front was sanctified with the first innocent blood and that blood was of Maro Makashvili. Her love for her homeland will inspire many women of the Joan of Arc type for braver patriotic deeds.”
"But one thing gives hope. As Paris once turned to Mounet-Sully, who lost two children, to say that the whole of France grieved along with him, so will the entire Tbilisi too.”
Maro Makashvili's diary. Photo by M. Saganelidze, RFE/RL.
As a teenager, before the clash Makashvili kept a diary. Her 16-year-old self wrote about her thoughts on civic engagement, women's rights and activism. The diary was recently published as a book.
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A special photographic exhibition will mark the 96th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Georgia’s First Democratic Republic and its aftermath in Tbilisi tomorrow.
Georgian Facebook users have been spending their social media time writing to some of the most significant historical figures from the country’s history, following an anniversary project that has spawned public profiles of early 20th century personalities.
The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development will release a post stamp featuring Maro Makashvili, a national hero of the country who died during the 1921 Red Army invasion of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia.
A diary written by Maro Makashvili, a Georgian army nurse who died during the 1921 Soviet invasion of the country, will be introduced to readers in French this year, bringing the impressions and thoughts of the patriotic young woman to an audience outside Georgia.