Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and presidential candidate of Georgia, before that she managed to work as the French ambassador to this country. Following the tradition of the small countries of the post-Soviet space, Salome Zurabishvili was invited to work by Mikheil Saakashvili, who told the President of France: "Georgia has never had a diplomat of such a class." True, he agreed with the assessment of the chairman of the parliament, Nino Burjanadze, who accused her of "incompetence and nepotism", dismissing Salome.
Early years
Salome Levanovna Zurabishvili was born on March 18, 1952 in the French capital, Paris, in a family of migrants from Georgia. After the revolution and civil war, her ancestors emigrated to France, but kept in touch with their homeland.
Grandfather Ivane Zurabishvili was a member of the Menshevik government of Georgia (in the period of independence in 1918-1921). She is a direct descendant of NicoNikoladze (great-great-granddaughter on the maternal side), a famous Georgian educator and one of the leaders of the national liberation movement of the 19th century. Niko built a sea port in Poti, and on his initiative the construction of the Georgian railway was started. Both grandfathers were associates of the writer and famous public figure Ilya Chavchavadze.
Salome Zurabishvili is a graduate of the forge of high-ranking French officials: the Paris Institute of Political Science (1972), and Columbia University in the USA (1973). In addition to French and Georgian, he is fluent in Russian, English, Italian and German.
The beginning of a diplomatic career
Salome Zurabishvili's career began in 1974 in the system of the French Foreign Ministry. She worked as the third secretary of the embassy in Italy, then the second secretary of the country's permanent mission to the UN. Since 1980 she has been working at the Central Office of the Foreign Ministry at the Center for Analysis and Forecasting.
The diplomat confidently moved up the career ladder, gradually occupying more and more responsible positions. From 1984 to 1988 she served as First Secretary of the French Embassy in the United States. Then Salome Zurabishvili was sent to work in Africa, where she was the second secretary in Chad for three years. Since 1992, she has worked in international organizations, first in the country's representation in NATO, then in the European Union, as deputy head of the French mission. In 1996 she returned to work in the central officeministry, where she held various positions. In 1998-2001, she moved to work in the department for strategy, security and disarmament. In 2001, she received the post of head of the General Secretariat of National Defense of France.
Homecoming
In 2003, Salome Zurabishvili was appointed to the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Georgia. When she presented her credentials to President Shevardnadze, she said she felt like she was in a dream. Her childhood dream came true - to visit the homeland of her ancestors, and she will be glad to use her experience for the benefit of Georgia. Later, Madam Ambassador said that she was very interested in working in her homeland, which is starting a new life after a long time of hibernation.
She did not work long as an ambassador, President Mikheil Saakashvili invited her to head the country's foreign affairs agency. Salome Zurabishvili later said that she did not hesitate for a second. Saakashvili himself agreed with the French president on this unexpected transfer. Then he also said that he dreamed of seeing her as a Georgian minister since their first meeting in 1996. He was convinced that the French diplomat in his new position would be able to achieve outstanding success in the European integration of Georgia and the improvement of relations with the European Union.
At a ministerial post
In March 2004, a new stage began in the biography of Salome Zurabishvili. With a photo of the new minister on the front pages, news began in all the leading publications of the country. Although two weeks beforethe possibility of such a "bureaucratic castling" was categorically denied by both the French ambassador herself and the head of the government of Georgia.
One of the controversial initiatives of the new minister was the order, according to which the newly appointed ambassadors came to present their credentials to the head of state in the host country in Circassian. Before that, the national Georgian costume was used mainly by actors of folklore ensembles.
Resignation
In the fall of 2005, Salome Zurabishvili was dismissed. Prior to that, she appeared on Georgian television, accusing speaker Nino Burjanadze of intending to establish a clan dictatorship. At the same time, the minister was not shy in terms, calling her political opponents the word "kaji". In Georgian (colloquial) it means "savage" or "hillbilly". In turn, Burjanadze accused Zurabishvili of incompetence.
Salome Zurabishvili considers his main success to be the decision to liquidate Russian military bases in Georgia. She also stated that the country is no longer going to deploy military bases of other states at all, but will not include such a clause in an agreement with Russia, since this limits its sovereignty. As a result, according to the signed agreements, Russian troops were to be withdrawn from the country by the end of 2008.
Presidential Candidate
After leaving the civil service, Salome Zurabishvili created her own party. In 2010, she announced her resignation from the Georgianpoliticians, saying that she was convinced that there is no democracy in the country, and the opposition is not allowed to work. Three years later, she returned to Tbilisi to participate in the presidential elections as an independent candidate. However, she was denied registration due to her dual citizenship.
In 2018, Salome Zurabishvili takes part in the elections to the country's parliament as a majoritarian independent candidate. Having collected 44, 42% of the votes on October 8, she passed to the second round. She is the only independent candidate backed by the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Personal Information
She is married to Jeanri Kashiya, a prominent Soviet dissident who was expelled from the Soviet Union. Salome's husband, after Georgia gained independence, returned to his homeland and became a well-known journalist. Now he is one of the most popular talk show hosts on Georgian television. Salome Levanovna Zurabishvili has a son Teimuraz and a daughter Ketevani. Her cousin, Ellen Carrère-d'Encausse (nee Zurabishvili), is the permanent secretary of the French Academy of Sciences.
Teimuraz, the son of Salome Levanovna Zurabishvili, and Ketevani received a good education. When she was about to become a candidate for the presidency of the country, the children came to Georgia to help in the election campaign. At this time, the son lived in Turkey, where he studied the Turkish language. The daughter had a journalistic practice on American television. She has French and Georgian citizenship.
