Shevardnadze

Eduard Amvrosiyevich Shevardnadze (Georgian: ედუარდ შვარდნაძე; 1928–2014) was a Georgian and Soviet politician who played a key role in late Soviet and post-Soviet politics. He rose through the ranks of Georgia’s Communist Party, serving as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party from 1972 to 1985. In 1985 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, a post he held until 1990, during Mikhail Gorbachev’s reform era.

As foreign minister, Shevardnadze helped shape Soviet diplomacy during perestroika and was involved in major arms-control efforts with the United States and the West, including negotiations leading to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. He was credited with helping to liberalize Soviet foreign policy and reduce Cold War tensions, even as domestic reforms and nationalist movements challenged the Soviet system.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Shevardnadze returned to Georgia and became a central political figure during the turbulent early 1990s. He served in government roles and was elected president of Georgia in 1995, a position he held until his resignation in 2003 following widespread protests known as the Rose Revolution. His presidency aimed to stabilize the country, promote democratic reforms, and seek closer ties with the West, but faced ongoing challenges including corruption, economic difficulties, and conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Shevardnadze remained a prominent figure in Georgian politics until his death in 2014. His career spans from high-level Soviet diplomacy to the governance of an independent Georgia, and he is remembered for his influence on late Cold War diplomacy and on Georgia’s post-Soviet trajectory.