Georgian leaders pay tribute to country’s first president
Zviad Gamsakhurdia, with his son Giorgi Gamsakhurdia attended opening of the first session of the Supreme Council, 1990. Photo from the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia, owner:Central Library of Zugdidi,
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Georgia’s first president Zviad Gamsakhurdia would have turned 80 today.
Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze and other officials went to the Mtatsminda Pantheon in Tbilisi to pay tribute to the former president.
Today Georgia’s first President woud have turned 80. Upon the Georgian Government's decission, the Georgian post has issued an anniversary postmark to commemorate this date”, PM Bakhtadze wrote on his official Facebook page, expressing his respect to the late president.
- After the Soviet collapse the Georgian people elected Gamsakhurdia as their first president in March 1991 with 87 percent of votes;
- In 1993 the president was found dead at the age of 31 in yet unclear circumstances with a single bullet wound.
Georgia's National Library hosts an exhibition dedicated to Zviad Gamsakhurdia'a anniversary. Photo: Government of Georgia
March 31 marks yet another important milestone in Georgian history: the country held its first independence referendum.
Paying tribute to Zviad Gamsakhurdia, President Salome Zurabishvili praised him for initiating the referendum as a "historic and courageous step" that has "opened the path to building the modern Georgian state".
28 years ago today, the Georgian people headed to the polls to participate in a referendum to declare that Georgia, from that day forward, would follow an independent, sovereign, and free path, away from the #USSR. 99% voted for independence. Let us all remember this historic day
— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) March 31, 2019
During Gamsakhurdia's presidency on March 31, 1991 the vast majority of Georgian people across the country, including now occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), legally confirmed their support for the restoration of independence from Russia that was first declared on May 26, 1918.
- However, this was short-lived independence as the country was re-invaded by Russia’s Bolshevik Army and absorbed into the Soviet Union in 1921.
- Seventy years later, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia once again became independent on May 26, 1991.
The Chairman of Georgian Dream Bidzina Ivanishvili has spoke on the eve of what would have been the 80th birthday of Georgia’s first president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has welcomed the continuation of an investigation into the death of the first President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who was found dead on 31 December 1993 in unclear circumstances.
A renewed investigation into the death of former Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia has been launched, with officials treating the case as premeditated murder.
The President of Georgia Giorgi Margelashvili has introduced a scholarship in the first president’s name that will be awarded to an outstanding student studying historic literature.
Tsotne Gamsakhurdia, son of the first president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia, was wounded in Tbilisi earlier today. Georgian media reported based on the Interior Ministry that investigation has been launched on deliberate attempt of murder.
Police have detained one for the attempted premeditated murder of Tsotne Gamsakhurdia, the son of the first president of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, and four others for not reporting the crime.
Giorgi Sologashvili, one of five individuals detained for their suspected involvement in the stabbing of Tsotne Gamsakhurdia, the son of the first president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia last week, has admitted to stabbing Gamsakhurdia, but he said it was not attempted premeditated murder, with which he has been charged by the prosecutor’s office.
Today Georgia marks the 29th anniversary of the referendum that led to the country gaining independence from the Soviet Union. President Salome Zurabishvili stated that despite the coronavirus pandemic, “we do not have the right to forget” the date, which has led to the restoration of “independent statehood”.
Today Georgians mark Independence Day, commemorating May 26, 1918 – the day when the Act of Independence was adopted and which established the First Democratic Republic of Georgia.Due to the coronavirus pandemic, no large-scale events will take place around the country, with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia marking the date with the country’s armed forces, on the base of the fourth mechanised brigade.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has stated that she welcomes the reinvestigation of the death of Georgia’s first President Zviad Gamsakhurdia.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday paid tribute to the memory of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the late first President of the country, on his 84th birthday.