A well-known Georgian statesman and politician is now in opposition to the current government. Nino Burdzhanadze twice served as acting president of the country, although for a very short time. Politics is distinguished by a rather balanced position towards Russia, for which Saakashvili accused her of lobbying Russian interests.
Early years
Nino Burjanadze was born on July 16, 1964 in the city of Kutaisi. Father, Anzor Burjanadze worked as the first secretary of one of the Georgian regions. Some media reported that he had been friends with Eduard Shevardnadze since Soviet times. Subsequently, he became a major Georgian businessman, led the Khleboprodukt concern. The biography of Nino Burdzhanadze says about her parents that they played a decisive role in choosing a profession.
Later, Burjanadze said that since childhood she became seriously interested in politics after she saw the film “Ambassador of the Soviet Union” about Alexander Kollontai, who became the world's first female ambassador. By nationalityNino Burjanadze is a Georgian and the first woman to become the head of the parliament and the country. After graduating from high school in 1981, she entered Tbilisi State University at the Faculty of Law. Specialized in international legal issues.
Start in employment
Since 1986, Nino Burdzhanadze has been a post-graduate student at the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University. In 1990 she became a candidate of legal sciences, having defended her dissertation on international maritime law and problems of international organizations. Returning to Tbilisi, she worked as an assistant professor at the Department of International Law and International Relations of the local university.
With the country's independence, Nino Burdzhanadze's work biography continued in the public service, in the Ministry of Ecology as an expert consultant. In 1992, she moved to the same position in the Foreign Relations Committee of the country's Parliament.
In high office
Since 1995, Nino Burjanadze has held various leadership positions in the Georgian Parliament. She supervised the issues of international cooperation with Great Britain, then with the European Union. Since 1998, she has worked in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, first dealing with humanitarian issues, later she took the position of Vice President.
In 2001-2003 she was elected to the post of Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia. In 2003, she created her own party and, together with Mikheil Saakashvili and Zhvania, became one of the leaders of the Rose Revolution, a bloodless coup d'état to overthrow President Shervanadze, whosupported by almost the entire population of the country.
Since the end of autumn 2003, she served as Acting President for two months. In 2007, the situation repeated itself with Nino Burjanadze: she again had to become temporarily head of state. She supported Saakashvili in the 2004 presidential election and was re-elected Speaker of the Parliament from the winning coalition.
Moderate critic of Russian politics
In her high position, Nino Burjanadze constantly accused Russia of unjustifiably aggressive and unreasonable policy towards her country. She believed that the Russian leadership was following the old imperial mindset. At the same time, experts noted that the politician generally takes a moderate position on many problems of relations between countries. The Georgian speaker did not engage in insulting the Russian authorities, did not put forward unreasonable demands and accusations. In 2006, she even apologized when one of the Georgian politicians said that the Russians would buy wine from "faecal matter" when Russia imposed a ban on the import of wines from Georgia.
In March 2005, the country's parliament demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Russian military from bases in the cities of Akhalkalaki and Batumi.
In opposition
After the next presidential elections in 2008, Nino Burjanadze announced that she supported President Saakashvili, but she would not go to the new parliamentary elections. During the five-day war in 2008, she sharply criticized Russia's actions, but also advocated dialogue with Moscow. stated that the countrygot involved and lost the war due to the fatal mistakes of the Georgian leadership.
In 2011, she organized mass protests demanding the resignation of President Saakashvili, which was brutally dispersed. The photo of Nino Burjanadze from the rally in the center of Tbilisi was published by many leading publications of the world. The actions of the authorities served as one of the reasons for the Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party, organized by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, to come to power. In 2018, she decided not to participate in the presidential race, because the head of state has no real powers after the amendments to the Constitution come into force.
Personal Information
She is married to Badri Bitsadze, the country's former interior minister and head of the state border protection department. In 2008, he resigned from government posts, in connection with the transition of his wife to the opposition. As he himself said, political pressure has increased on him. In 2011, the couple took part in a protest in Tbilisi. After that, he was charged with resistance and violence against a representative of the authorities as part of a group of persons. However, they failed to arrest him: when the court issued the necessary sanctions, Bitsadze had already fled the country. He was sentenced in absentia to 5.5 years in prison.
The couple have two sons - Anzora and Rezo. In her free time, Nino is engaged in home gardening, planting flowers. Loves classical music and theater.
Nino Burjanadze has published twenty works on international law,including monographs on legal issues of interaction between international intergovernmental organizations.
