Aleksandr Shervashidze

Who was Aleksandr Shervashidze?

Aleksandr Konstantinovich Shervashidze was an artist from the Principality of Abkhazia and a member of the princely Shervashidze family, being the grandson of Prince Sefer Ali-Bey. Following the death of his cousin in 1918, Alexander was the locum tenens of the Abkhazian throne, and his father fiercely fought for Georgian independence.

From 1907 until 1918 Shervashidze worked a scenographer at the Saint Petersburg Mariinsky and Alexandrinsky theatres. He co-operated with Alexandre Benois, Aleksandr Golovin, Valentin Serov and Pablo Picasso. He requested for all his work to be left to Georgia after his death.

After the Russian Revolution, Chachba went into exile in France. He died on 17 August 1968 at the age of 101 in the hostel for the elderly in Monaco, and was buried at the Russian cemetery in Nice. On 12 May 1985, Shervashidze was ceremonially reburied in the centre of the Abkhazian capital Sukhumi. On 24 December 2013, a monument was unveiled on his grave.