Avalishvili Zurab

Avalishvili Zurab (1876–1944), Scholar, jurist, historian, literary critic and diplomat, born in Tbilisi. In 1900 he graduated from the Law Faculty of St. Petersburg University. The talented and erudite graduate was invited by the Chair of Political Law to continue his work on Doctor’s Degree and was sent to Paris for three years with the mission of advancing in the knowledge of jurisprudence. In 1919, Polytechnic Institute of St. Petersburg offered Z. Avalishvili to take the position of a Professor and hold the Chair of Administrative Law of the selfsame Institute. In 1917, after the February Russian Revolution, he was appointed a Senator. In 1918 he returned to Georgia to take up the duties of a Foreign Policy Councilor in the Government of Georgian Democratic Republic. Z. Avalishvili was one of those who drafted the Act of Independence of Georgia. At the same time, he actively participated in elaboration of First Georgian Constitution.
In 1921, after the Soviet rule was established in Georgia, Z. Avalishvili immigrated to Europe. He lived in France and Germany. He was one of the Georgian patriots, who hid from the Nazi invaders the items of Georgian treasury and archive, which had been taken to France in 1921 and safeguarded there by E. Takaishvili.
In 1940 Z. Avalishvili moved to Munich, Germany. In immigration he continued to work on the issues of history, political law and national statehood. He has written a number of noteworthy books, among them: Incorporation of Georgia into Russia (1901), Independence of Georgia in the International Politics of 1918-21 (1925). According to the information, History of Georgia by Z. Avalishvili was published in German in Munich (1944) but the book could not be traced as yet. He also delved in the problems of literature and philosophy.
Z. Avalishvili died in Germany and was buried in the town of Schwandorf. In 1993 his mortal remains were transferred to Tbilisi and buried in the Didube Pantheon.