Znaur Gassiev

Who is Znaur Gassiev?

Znaur Nikolaevich Gassiev, is a South Ossetian politician, who was one of the leaders of the South Ossetian independence movement in the early 1990s, which culminated in the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War.

Gassiev was born in Tskhinvali in 1925, but soon moved with his parents to Moscow. In 1935 the family went back to Tskhinvali, where Znaur Gassiev finished secondary school in 1942. He enrolled in the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the South Ossetian State Pedagogical Institute, but was drafted into the Soviet Army to fight in World War II during the period 1942 to 1944. Upon completion of his studies in 1947, he started working as a teacher, teaching mathematics and physics in various schools in Tskhinvali.

In 1951, Gassiev moved to Tblisi, where he worked as a teacher for four years, and at the same time studied at the Mining Department of the Polytechnic Institute, where he graduated with honours in 1955. He then started working at the Mining Department of Kvaisa, where he held several ranks.

Gassiev subsequently moved into politics, first working as the head of the industrial and transport committee of Dzau district. In the early 1960s, he was appointed the chairman of the Tskhinvali branch of the Georgian Communist Party, as well as the head of the administration of Tskhinvali city. In 1963, he went to the Higher Party School, from which he graduated with honours in 1965. Then, until 1972, he worked as deputy chairman of the South Ossetian executive committee.