Zurab Zhvania

Zurab Zhvania (Georgian: ზურაბ ჟვანია; 9 December 1963 – 3 February 2005) was a Georgian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia.

Zhvania began his political career at a young age, as a member of the Green Party in the early 1990s. In 1993, Zhvania was elected General Secretary of Eduard Shevardnadze's political party, the Union of Citizens of Georgia. From that point on, until his death in 2005, Zhvania played an important role in Georgian politics. In 1995 he became the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, and maintained the post until his resignation in 1999, which was followed by the discharge of other ministers whom Zhvania had suspected of corruption. In 2003, Zhvania united with other opposition leaders, mainly Burdjanadze, Okruashvili and Saakashvili, to hold non-violent protests against the rigging of the 2003 parliamentary elections. These protests culminated with the resignation of Shevardnadze, and the ascendance of Saakashvili to the presidency. Zhvania became Prime Minister and held the post until his death in 2005.

Early life

Zhvania was born in Tbilisi into the family of Besarion Zhvania, an ethnic Georgian, and Rema Antonova, of mixed Jewish and Armenian ancestry, both physicists working at the Tbilisi Institute of Physics. In 1985 he graduated from the Faculty of Biology of the Tbilisi State University.