Giorgi Margvelashvili
Date of Birth: 04.09.1969
Giorgi Teimurazovich Margvelashvili - Georgian politician, former president of Georgia.
Place of Birth. Education. Giorgi Margvelashvili was born on September 4, 1969, in Tbilisi. His father Teimuraz Margvelashvili was a party activist and engineer of Swabian descent. His mother Mzeana Gomelauri comes from the Hevsurs and was a psychologist. He attended School No. 1 in Tbilisi.
In 1992, he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy and Psychology at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, and from 1993 to 1994 he studied sociology at the Central European University. Doctor of Philosophy.
Career. From 1992 to 1995, Margvelashvili worked as a tour guide in a tourism company (specializing in mountain tourism) and was an assistant manager in a publishing house.
From 1994 to 1995, he was the marketing director at 'Business Journals'.
From 1996 to 1997, he taught philosophy at the Independent University of Tbilisi.
From 1995 to 2000, he was a specialist (program consultant) at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.
From 2000 to 2012, he worked at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), including as rector from 2000 to 2006 and 2010 to 2012.
From 2006 to 2010, he was the head of the research department at GIPA.
Political Career. In October 2012, Margvelashvili was appointed Minister of Education of Georgia in the government of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the leader of the victorious coalition 'Georgian Dream' in the parliamentary elections on October 1, 2012. However, he is not a member of a political party.
On February 7, 2013, Giorgi Margvelashvili was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the Georgian government.
On May 11, 2013, the ruling coalition 'Georgian Dream' nominated Giorgi Margvelashvili as its candidate for the presidency of Georgia in the elections on October 27, 2013. On July 16, 2013, Margvelashvili resigned as Minister of Education to avoid accusations of abuse of administrative resources ahead of the election campaign. However, he remained Deputy Prime Minister of Georgia. On September 9, 2013, he was officially registered as a candidate for the head of state.
On October 27, 2013, he won the presidential elections in Georgia. On November 17, 2013, he took office as president.
On November 17, he officially assumed the presidency. He took his oath in the courtyard of the old building of the Georgian Parliament on Rustaveli Avenue. His predecessor Mikheil Saakashvili was not present at the inauguration and stated that the new government did not respect political opponents. According to the new constitution of Georgia, some powers of the president were transferred to the government and the prime minister.
On May 7, 2014, he signed the law 'On the Prohibition of All Forms of Discrimination,' which prohibits any discrimination against citizens based on their origin, nationality, religion, profession, gender, and sexual orientation.
On October 27 of the same year, he appealed to the residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to jointly create a European future as part of a single state. The self-proclaimed regions were assured that their identity and autonomy rights would be preserved. However, the foreign ministries of Abkhazia and South Ossetia rejected the offer.
On November 4, the Georgian Minister of Defense I. Alasania and several high-ranking officials resigned, and a group of deputies from the 'Georgian Dream' party went into opposition. On November 14, President Margvelashvili urged parliament to control the government to 'ensure the stability of the course for integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures.'
On November 30, he signed a law granting the Ministry of Internal Affairs the right to conduct secret wiretaps, although he initially attempted to veto it.
On July 17, 2015, the Georgian Parliament adopted changes to the law 'On the National Bank of Georgia,' removing the supervisory authority from the structure of the central bank. On July 31, Margvelashvili vetoed the law, stating that the haste of the parliamentarians 'could negatively affect macroeconomic stability and question the effectiveness of the National Bank.' On September 3, Georgian deputies overturned the president's veto by a majority.
In October of that year, a series of attacks occurred on offices of the 'United National Movement' in Tbilisi, Batumi, Gori, Kutaisi, Ozurgeti, and Poti, after which President Margvelashvili stated in a public speech that these events had led to an 'escalation of the political climate that threatens constitutional order and created conditions for a civil conflict.' Representatives of the Georgian government criticized the president's statements.
On December 3, 2015, the Ministry of Justice urged the Georgian President to expedite the process of revoking Saakashvili's citizenship, and the next day Margvelashvili signed the corresponding order.
In April 2016, President Margvelashvili was the third most recognized politician in Georgia.
On December 16, 2018 Giorgi Margvelashvili resigned as president as Salome Zourabishvili took office as the elected president of Georgia.
After his resignation, he withdrew from politics and settled in the town of Dusheti, where he makes a living by renting his guesthouse to tourists through the Airbnb service.
Family. Giorgi Margvelashvili has a daughter Anna (born 1993). Since 2014, he has been married to Maka Chichua (born 1965), an artist and actress from the princely Chichua family of Megrelia. On February 2, 2015, Giorgi Margvelashvili and Maka Chichua had a son, Teimuraz.
03.09.2022.