Evgen Gvaladze

Who was Evgen Gvaladze?

Evgen Gvaladze was a Georgian lawyer, journalist and politician, and one of the leaders of the anti-Soviet national-liberation movement in Georgia of 1921-1937.

He was born in a small village Sveri near the mining town of Chiatura, Imereti, into the family of a Georgian retired cavalry officer Artem Gvaladze. Gvaladze was a descendant of David II, King of imereti in 1784-1790.

Having graduated from the Gymnasium at the Tbilisi State University in 1920, he joined the National Army of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in July, 1920 and took part in the battles against the invading Red and Turkish armies in Kojory-Tabakhmela and Batumi in February–March, 1921. On February 20, 1921 Gvaladze was decorated with the Military Cross of "Tetri Giorgi".

After the Bolshevik takeover of the Georgian government, he was demobilized. In 1926 Gvaladze graduated from the Department of Law of the Social-Economic Faculty of the Tbilisi State University. Since April, 1921 he was involved in the underground activities of the Georgian Menshevik Party to which he was a member in 1917-1923.