Eduard Shevardnadze and his role in the fate of the Soviet country.

The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, and later the President of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, died at the age of 87.

Eduard Amvrosievich Shevardnadze lived three lives: a Soviet party functionary, the creator of perestroika and new thinking, and the leader of independent Georgia. No one could have foreseen these turns, least of all himself.

Like his patron Mikhail Gorbachev, Shevardnadze is more respected and appreciated in the world than at home.

Some argue that he consistently failed everything he undertook, others are convinced that humanity will not forget his historical achievements.

Active Komsomol member

The future statesman was born on January 25, 1928 in the village of Mamati, Lanchkhuti region of Georgia, into a large family of a teacher of Russian language and literature, and from the age of 10 he worked as a postman.

In 1937, Shevardnadze’s father was going to be arrested. A former student who served in the local NKVD warned him, and he went into hiding for several months until he was forgotten. The elder brother Akaki died defending the Brest Fortress.

Eduard graduated with honors from a medical college, which allowed him to enter the institute without exams, but received an offer to become a released secretary of the Komsomol organization and chose a political career over a medical one.

Developed, energetic, and a good speaker, he was promoted every year and at the age of 25 became the first secretary of the Kutaisi city committee of the Komsomol.

After Khrushchev’s report to the 20th Congress, Tbilisi youth opposed the debunking of Stalin and staged mass riots, which ended with the deployment of troops into the city, the use of weapons and the death of 21 people. In Kutaisi everything remained more or less calm. It is difficult to say whether Shevardnadze was to blame for this, but he was noticed, and the next year he headed the Republican Komsomol.

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Anti-corruption fighter

In 1968, from the post of first secretary of one of the Tbilisi district party committees, he was appointed republican minister of internal affairs.

According to the unwritten nomenklatura rules, the post was a dead end. Transfers from party work to general positions in the police happened all the time, but the way back was closed. The maximum that Shevardnadze, who was barely over forty, could count on in the future was the position of one of the many deputy ministers of the Union. However, circumstances turned out favorably for him.

Corruption in the Transcaucasian republics has gone off scale even by Soviet standards. They started with Azerbaijan, where the head of the republican KGB, Heydar Aliyev, acted as the “iron broom”, then it was Georgia’s turn.

After a year-long internship as the first secretary of the Tbilisi City Committee, 44-year-old Shevardnadze headed the republican party organization in 1972. He had to wait for membership in the CPSU Central Committee according to his rank until the next congress - four whole years.

During the first five years of the new leader’s rule in the republic, about 30 thousand people were convicted of corruption, and another 40 thousand lost their positions.

Legends were told about Shevardnadze's methods. Then, at a meeting of the bureau of the Republican Central Committee, he invited those present to show their wristwatches, and everyone turned out to have a “Seiko”, which was equal in value to the monthly salary of a Soviet worker, only the new first secretary had a modest “Slava”. Then one fine day he banned Tbilisi taxis from leaving the parks in the morning, but the streets were still full of cars with checkered cards. The modern reader needs to explain that in the USSR private transportation was considered “unearned income.”

Shevardnadze failed to overcome corruption in the absence of civilian control and transparency. The campaign he organized was subsequently called window dressing and the replacement of some thieving officials with others.

Flexible politician

He gained popularity among the population in 1978 during the conflict over the state language.

The constitutions of the USSR and most republics did not know the concept of “state language,” calling Russian “the language of interethnic communication.” Only in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia have national languages ​​been officially declared state languages ​​since the 1920s.

During the adoption of the new Soviet constitution, they decided at the same time to bring the Transcaucasian republics to a common denominator. The main ideologist of the CPSU, Mikhail Suslov, insisted on this, arguing that the “linguistic anomaly” contradicts Marxism-Leninism.

On the day when deputies of the Supreme Council of Georgia were to vote for a new constitution, thousands of people gathered at the Government House. Shevardnadze called Moscow and convinced Brezhnev not to go to extremes.

For decades, the Soviet leadership accepted one form of dialogue: staged “meetings with workers.” Any contact with dissenters was considered unacceptable weakness. Shevardnadze came out to the crowd and announced: “Brothers, everything will be the way you want!”

At the same time, having headed the republic, he promised to “cleanse the capitalist pigsty to the bones,” and subsequently was noted for his exceptional, even by the standards of that time, eastern flattery of Brezhnev and the statement that for the Georgian people, the Sun, it turns out, rises not in the east, but in the north, from sides of great Russia.

At the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee on June 23, 1980, where the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan was discussed in hindsight, Shevardnadze stated that “the bold, the only true, the only wise step taken in relation to Afghanistan was received with satisfaction by every Soviet person.”

Until 1985, Western analysts classified him as one of the “hardliners” in the leadership of the USSR.

Subsequently, opponents repeatedly asked: when were you sincere, Eduard Amvrosievich?

“We did not curry favor with Moscow. We only wanted to create conditions to better serve our people,” Shevardnadze answered.

Gorbachev's right hand

In the 1970s, the leader of Georgia became close friends with his neighbor, the first secretary of the Stavropol regional party committee, Mikhail Gorbachev. Even then, the two politicians, as they later claimed, spoke quite frankly. Gorbachev recalled how once, on vacation in Pitsunda, Shevardnadze told him: “Everything is rotten, everything needs to be changed.”

Two and a half months after coming to power, Gorbachev summoned Shevardnadze to Moscow and invited him to become Minister of Foreign Affairs.

If we tried to forcefully prevent the development of events, the whole world would rebel against us. Eastern Europe would have exploded anyway, and our country would have suffered enormous damage. Alexander Bessmertnykh,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR in 1991

The appointment to this post of a person without any foreign policy experience and who did not know a single foreign language created a sensation both in the country and in the world.

Observers call diplomacy the most conservative profession. Career diplomats have been repeating the same positions for years, or even decades, without changing a word in their proven formulations. Radical changes require someone from the outside. It was precisely these changes that the Secretary General conceived, and Shevardnadze became the most active promoter and face of the “new thinking” policy.

After the buttoned-up Gromyko, communication with Shevardnadze became a culture shock for foreign partners: the Soviet minister is smiling! And he even jokes!

At the first meeting with new subordinates, Shevardnadze said: “It will be difficult for me against the background of the authority of Andrei Andreevich [Gromyko]. Compared to him, the cruiser of foreign policy, I am just a boat. But with a motor!”

When, after negotiations in Washington with Secretary of State George Shultz, a young American journalist asked: “Tomorrow is Sunday, what are your plans for the day off?”, she instantly answered: “What proposals do you have?” One day he gave Schultz a Caucasian dagger and said: “Well, I’m disarmed, now it’s your turn!”

Shevardnadze did not shake up the Foreign Ministry staff, which, in the opinion of many, was a mistake. Of the people he knew from his previous life, he brought only one to Smolenskaya Square - journalist Teimuraz Mamaladze, whom he made his assistant.

The team split: some enthusiastically accepted the ideas and style of the new boss, noting his colossal capacity for work, memory and learning ability, others disparagingly called him “Kutaisi Komsomol member”.

Shevardnadze made most of his enemies among the military. He openly raised the question that poverty and technological backwardness threaten national security more than all American missiles combined. The generals, who only recognize the reduction of foreign armies and who, under Brezhnev and Andropov, were accustomed to receiving everything they wanted on demand, were indignant.

Chief of the General Staff Mikhail Moiseev, who represented the Ministry of Defense at the disarmament negotiations, not only openly ignored and reviled the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but also told the Americans that they supposedly have normal diplomats, while we have “eccentrics.”

After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe, antipathy intensified and gripped not only the military elite, but also the entire officer corps, for whom service in the GDR or Czechoslovakia was a life dream.

The party meeting of the Ministry of Defense apparatus adopted a resolution demanding, no more nor less, that Shevardnadze be brought to justice.

According to a number of analysts, Moscow's policy in the Caucasus in the 1990s was largely determined by the personal hatred of the Russian military towards it.

And in general, his attitude that the West is not an enemy, but a partner, extremely irritated adherents of Soviet values.

They constantly demanded Shevardnadze's scalp from Gorbachev. And the president was clearly thinking that maybe he needed a new minister who would not be trampled every day in the Supreme Council Leonid Mlechin, historian

The nomenklatura furiously resisted democratization and economic reforms, seeing them as a threat to their power, and for the time being paid little attention to ideology and international affairs, considering them the personal prerogative of the Secretary General.

However, it was precisely the success of perestroika in the areas they led that made the “architect of glasnost” Alexander Yakovlev and the “architect of new thinking” Shevardnadze bogeymen in the eyes of orthodox communists and national patriots. They were blamed for everything, exaggerating their real influence.

In the second half of 1990, a black cat ran between Gorbachev and Shevardnadze. The military, party officials and deputies from the Soyuz group understood perfectly well that Shevardnadze was not inventing anything, but was pursuing Gorbachev’s line, but they preferred not to touch the president’s person and scold the minister, and Gorbachev accepted this game.

“Perhaps jealousy awoke in Gorbachev,” writes Shevardnadze’s biographer Leonid Mlechin. “Shevardnadze became known throughout the world. The country’s foreign policy was associated with his name. This is honorable, but dangerous for a career.”

On December 20, 1990, Shevardnadze announced his resignation directly from the rostrum of the IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, adding to his words a warning about the “coming dictatorship.”

Gorbachev was indignant that his comrade-in-arms had not previously coordinated his demarche with him. In the West, Shevardnadze's departure caused panic. Gorbachev had to explain himself to George Bush Sr., proving that “Edward was just tired.”

Second try

Eduard Shevardnadze became the last Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR in history. Like Vyacheslav Molotov, he held this position twice.

Immediately after the putsch, Gorbachev invited him to return to Smolenskaya Square. Shevardnadze refused, harshly declaring: “I don’t believe you, Mikhail Sergeevich!” However, when the threat of the collapse of the USSR loomed large, he agreed to lend his shoulder.

“It was clear to Gorbachev that if he got Shevardnadze back, it would be a wonderful signal to the outside world and to the entire Soviet nomenklatura - which means that everything should fall into place and the sideshow associated with the putsch would be closed,” recalled the presidential press secretary USSR Andrey Grachev.

According to Alexander Bessmertnykh, who replaced Shevardnadze as head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, there cannot be greater stupidity than the opinion that he was leading the way for the collapse of the USSR in advance and was thinking exclusively about the interests of his native Georgia.

Shevardnadze fought to the end to preserve the union state, instead of visiting abroad, he went on a tour of the capitals of the republics. And for him personally, this was the last chance: he was not close to Boris Yeltsin and understood that he would not be offered any post in a sovereign Russia.

But it was all in vain. Shevardnadze's "second coming" lasted only three weeks.

mission Impossible

After the collapse of the USSR, the 63-year-old ex-minister was expected to live a calm and prosperous life as a respected retiree - either in Moscow or on the shores of Lake Geneva. He was at the zenith of world fame. Journalists stood in line for interviews. By publishing memoirs and giving lectures at Western universities, he could easily earn millions of dollars.

However, when in March 1992 Georgian politicians, who had just overthrown Zviad Gamsakhurdia, offered Shevardnadze to lead the country, he agreed. It is difficult to say what was more here: the desire to help the homeland in difficult times or the longing for power and activism.

His return was compared to the calling of the Varangians to Rus': “Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it; come and make water.”

“I knew that if I had not returned to Georgia, she would have died,” Shevardnadze said.

There was some truth in his words, but, unlike Heydar Aliyev, who found himself in a similar situation, he failed to consolidate society.

Shevardnadze probably hoped to end up in a small country as a “whale in an aquarium”, before whose global authority everyone would bow down. Instead, he found himself in a society brought to the boiling point, surrounded by armed barons determined to obey no one.

The crisis in relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia was created by his predecessor Gamsakhurdia. Shevardnadze agreed to a military expedition to Abkhazia in August 1992 under pressure from public opinion and influential military leaders Tengiz Kitovani and Jaba Ioseliani.

Russia declared itself an impartial mediator, but “unknown planes” fired at Georgian positions, and Cossacks and Shamil Basayev’s volunteer battalion fought on the Abkhaz side. The Russian authorities turned a blind eye to the movement of armed people across the border.

“I am far from saying that Russia is at war with us in Abkhazia. But I have the right to assert: in Abkhazia the red-brown army of imperial revenge is waging war with us,” Shevardnadze said.

He remained in besieged Sukhumi until the end and was taken out by helicopter by the then head of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, Sergei Shoigu.

Representatives of the Abkhaz command claimed that they could have shot down the helicopter, but they understood that Moscow would not forgive Shoigu’s death.

The Abkhaz dealt terribly with representatives of the Georgian administration who were taken prisoner. Shevardnadze's Komsomol friend Zhiuli Shartava, whom he appointed mayor of Sukhumi, was forced to swallow dirt before being shot: you wanted our land - so eat it!

Twice - in November 1995 and April 2000 - Shevardnadze won the presidential elections by a large margin, but did not become a generally recognized national leader. He was criticized for economic difficulties, corruption of the state apparatus and especially for his failure to return Abkhazia and South Ossetia and solve the refugee problem.

Two attempts were made on the head of state. In August 1995, he was injured by a bomb explosion. In February 1998, the presidential motorcade in the center of Tbilisi was attacked with a grenade launcher and machine guns. Shevardnadze's life was saved by an armored Mercedes, which served as good advertising for the company.

The Georgian authorities accused the former head of the country's Security Service, Igor Giorgadze, of organizing the first assassination attempt, who then took refuge in Russia. Giorgadze declares his innocence.

With the second, the situation is even more vague. They sinned on the opposition, on the Chechen militants, on the Russian GRU, on the local mafia.

"Rose Revolution"

On November 2, 2003, parliamentary elections were held in Georgia. The Election Commission announced the victory of the pro-presidential bloc “For a New Georgia”. The opposition accused the authorities of “total falsification.” Mass unrest on November 21-23, which went down in history as the “Rose Revolution,” ended with the resignation of Shevardnadze. World television channels showed video footage of political opponents literally pushing him out of the parliament chamber.

The new authorities assigned him a pension of $410 a month.

The ex-president lived out his life in a house in the Tbilisi government quarter of Krtsanisi, once built on the orders of Lavrentiy Beria. The government of Mikheil Saakashvili sold the complex to an American investor, but Shevardnadze’s residence remained with him.

According to guests, the house resembled a lifetime museum. The walls were decorated with dozens of photographs depicting the politician's finest hours.

Photos from open sources

Eduard Amvrosievich Shevardnadze was born on January 25, 1928 in the village of Mamati, Lanchkhuti district, in the historical region of Guria in Georgia. The personality of this politician and the consequences of his actions as both the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and the President of Georgia cause mixed assessments. About the dead it’s either good or nothing but the truth. But we will not discuss Shevardnadze’s personality as a person; we will dwell on his policies, the consequences of which are still “alive” to this day.

For some reason, for a long time in many Russian media, Shevardnadze was presented as an exceptionally wise politician, a born diplomat, such a political “elder”. However, if you look at the list of “merits” of Eduard Amvrosievich, you understand that if he had any political wisdom, it clearly did not work for the benefit of the Soviet state. And even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, to which Eduard Shevardnadze also had a hand, already in the status of president of sovereign Georgia, the former Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs was far from being a friend of Russia. Having immediately “changed his shoes,” yesterday’s representative of the Soviet party nomenklatura, general of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR calmly reoriented toward cooperation with the United States.

Who knows what the fate of Eduard Amvrosievich would have been like if he had chosen a different life path for himself in his youth. He graduated with honors from the Tbilisi Medical College and could have entered a medical school without exams. Perhaps he would have become an excellent doctor, like many of his fellow countrymen, he would have treated people and ninety years after his birth he would have been remembered with exceptional gratitude. But, after graduating from college, Shevardnadze followed the Komsomol and then the party line. This predetermined his future fate, and Eduard’s career in the party was very successful.

At the age of 18, he took the position of instructor in the personnel department of the Ordzhonikidze district committee of the Komsomol of Tbilisi and then worked exclusively along the Komsomol line. By this time, Shevardnadze had no experience of working in production, or serving in the army, or even working as a teacher, paramedic or newspaper correspondent. Professional operator. In 1952, 24-year-old Eduard became secretary of the Kutaisi regional committee of the Komsomol of the Georgian SSR, and in 1953 - first secretary of the Kutaisi regional committee of the Komsomol of the Georgian SSR. Naturally, such a successful career in the Komsomol gave great chances to continue his career in party structures. In 1957-1961. Eduard Shevardnadze was the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of the Georgian SSR. It was at this time that he met another Komsomol functionary, Mikhail Gorbachev, who in 1958 participated in the 13th Komsomol Congress as the second secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the Komsomol.

In 1961, when Eduard was 33 years old, he switched from Komsomol to party work - he headed the Mtskheta district committee of the Communist Party of the Georgian SSR. Then a simply dizzying career began. The path from the first secretary of the district committee to the republican minister took him only 4 years. In 1963-1964. Shevardnadze headed the Pervomaisky district committee of the Communist Party of the Georgian SSR in Tbilisi, and in 1964 he was appointed first deputy minister of public order of Georgia. Then it was a very common practice to send party officials to “strengthen” the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB. Yesterday's Komsomol member Shevardnadze, who from the age of 18 was engaged exclusively in administrative work, at the age of 36 found himself in a general's position without the slightest experience in law enforcement agencies and even without military service. The following year, 1965, he was appointed Minister of Public Order (from 1968 - Internal Affairs) of the Georgian SSR and received the rank of Major General of the Internal Service. Shevardnadze led the Georgian police for seven years - until 1972.

In 1972, after a very brief leadership of the Tbilisi City Committee of the Communist Party of the Georgian SSR, Eduard Shevardnadze was elected first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia. In this post, he replaced Vasily Mzhavanadze, who was accused of corruption and encouraging the activities of shop workers. Eduard Shevardnadze promised to restore order and deal with violations of socialist legality. He carried out a massive purge in the party and state apparatus of the republic, replacing old leadership cadres with young intellectuals and technocrats. However, it was during the years of his leadership of the Georgian SSR - in the 1970s - 1980s, that the republic had already finally secured its reputation as one of the most corrupt in the Union, living according to “special rules” that had nothing to do with Soviet laws. And the “purges” of the leadership could be a classic preparation for the subsequent flowering of nationalism.

In 1985, Eduard Shevardnadze was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. Mikhail Gorbachev needed a reliable person in this post, who would share his aspirations for liberalizing the political course, including internationally. Therefore, the choice fell on Shevardnadze, who, by the way, had no experience in diplomatic work and even spoke the state language of the USSR, not to mention foreign languages, with a strong accent until the end of his life.

It was as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR that Eduard Shevardnadze caused maximum harm to the Soviet state through his activities. In fact, together with his “patron” Mikhail Gorbachev, Shevardnadze was directly responsible for the events that led to the final weakening and collapse of the Soviet state. It was Eduard Shevardnadze, with his extreme compliance, that led to the rapid surrender of positions in foreign policy, managing to completely collapse the socialist bloc in Eastern Europe in five years and prepare the conditions for the complete withdrawal of Soviet troops from the countries of Eastern Europe.

In 1987, Eduard Shevardnadze signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which was to enter into force in 1991. As a result of the Treaty, the Soviet Union destroyed 2.5 times more delivery vehicles and 3.5 times more warheads than the United States. The Oka (SS-23) missile, which entire teams of Soviet scientists and engineers had been creating for many years, was also destroyed, although the United States did not ask for it. It turns out that Shevardnadze and Gorbachev simply “gifted” to the United States the destruction of a modern Soviet missile at that time.

Another famous “case” of Eduard Amvrosievich is the “Shevardnadze-Baker Agreement”. The USSR Foreign Minister signed an agreement with US Secretary of State James Baker on the maritime delimitation line in the Bering Sea. The title of this document does not convey the essence of the consequences that the “delimitation of maritime spaces” led to. The part of the Bering Sea that was discussed in the agreement contained large proven oil reserves, and in addition there were a lot of fish. But the “political elder” simply ceded 46.3 thousand square meters to the United States. km of continental shelf and 7.7 thousand square meters. km of the continental economic zone of the Soviet Union. Only 4.6 thousand square meters went to the USSR. km of continental shelf - ten times less than the United States. Of course, US Coast Guard ships immediately appeared in this zone and visiting it by Soviet fishing vessels became impossible. Subsequently, James Baker, characterizing Shevardnadze, said that the latter’s main achievement was his refusal to use force to preserve the empire. But there were other, even more interesting words - “the Soviet minister seemed almost a petitioner. The Soviet leadership needs only a little encouragement to conduct business essentially on Western terms.”

Eduard Shevardnadze played one of the key roles in the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Of course, from a human point of view, the fact that our soldiers and officers have stopped dying is a big plus. But politically it was a colossal miscalculation. Its consequences were the rapid rise of the Mujahideen to power in the neighboring country, the complete opening of the “underbelly” of the Soviet Union to extremist attacks, which began almost immediately after the withdrawal of troops. The civil war in Tajikistan is also a result of this step, as is the flow of drugs that poured into the post-Soviet republics, which killed hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of young Russians.

It was Eduard Shevardnadze who was behind the “surrender” of East Germany. Mikhail Gorbachev and Eduard Shevardnadze are highly respected in the West for their contribution to the unification of Germany. But what benefit did this have for the Soviet state, for Russia? Even the Western leaders themselves were stunned by the actions of the Soviet leadership. Throughout 1990, the issue of unification of the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR was discussed. And Eduard Shevardnadze made concessions of a very serious nature. As you know, the Federal Republic of Germany was a member of the NATO bloc, and the GDR was a member of the Warsaw Pact Organization. There was an opportunity to establish the need for a united Germany to refuse to join NATO, but Shevardnadze gave in and agreed with Germany’s right to re-enter the North Atlantic Alliance.

In addition, he allowed not to indicate the promise of German Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich Genscher to abandon plans to expand NATO to the East. Although the latter promised the Soviet minister that the former countries of the socialist bloc would never be members of NATO. Shevardnadze explained his actions by saying that he trusted his negotiating partners and there was no need to write down Genscher’s promise on paper. What was the cost of fixing these words in the contract? But there is no fixation - and no agreements. In the 1990s and 2000s, most of the former Soviet allies in Eastern Europe became NATO members. The North Atlantic Alliance has advanced as far as possible to the borders of modern Russia - and this is the most direct “merit” of the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, a “wise politician.”

The process of German unification took place in maximum haste. It seems that someone set the task for Gorbachev and Shevardnadze to complete preparations for the collapse of the Soviet state by 1991. Therefore, 1990 went down in history as the year the Soviet Union surrendered its positions on all fronts. By the way, the “White Fox” himself, as the media liked to call him, recalled in his memoirs that he made some decisions on the unification of Germany personally, without consulting “Michal Sergeich”. Obviously, Shevardnadze wanted to go down in history as the unifier of Germany much more than to remain remembered as a normal foreign minister of his state. George Bush Sr., President of the United States, was literally shocked by the behavior of Soviet leaders. He recalled that the West was ready to write off multibillion-dollar debts and provide guarantees that Eastern Europe would never join NATO, but Shevardnadze did not demand anything in return.

On December 20, 1990, Eduard Shevardnadze, at the IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, announced his resignation from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs “in protest against the impending dictatorship,” although what dictatorship was being discussed was not very clear. However, in November 1991, he returned for a month to the post of Minister of Foreign Relations of the USSR (instead of the abolished Ministry of Foreign Affairs), but soon the Soviet Union ceased to exist and Eduard Amvrosievich found himself out of work. He decided to return to Georgia, where in January 1992 a military coup took place that overthrew Zviad Gamsakhurdia.

On March 10, 1992, Shevardnadze headed the State Council of Georgia, in October 1992 he was elected Chairman of the Georgian Parliament, and on November 6, 1992 - Head of the Georgian State (since 1995 - President). Thus, Shevardnadze actually led sovereign Georgia for eleven years - from 1992 to 2003. Those who lived through that time remember that life in Georgia became literally unbearable. The war with Abkhazia, the conflict in South Ossetia, an unprecedented increase in banditry - and all this against the backdrop of the complete destruction of social infrastructure and the total impoverishment of the population. It was during the years of Shevardnadze’s presidency that many Georgian citizens left the country, emigrating to other states, primarily to that very Russia, from which Tbilisi so desired independence just a few years ago.

Shevardnadze’s policy as president of sovereign Georgia also cannot be called friendly towards Russia. Although the “White Fox” repeatedly spoke in words about the friendship of the Russian and Georgian peoples, he himself tried to turn the country into a US satellite, asking Washington to send an international military contingent to the republic. The role of Georgia during the First Chechen War is known. Just at this time, the country on whose territory the militant bases were located was led by Eduard Shevardnadze.

In domestic politics, Shevardnadze suffered a complete fiasco, failing to lead the country out of economic and social catastrophe. On November 21-23, 2003, the so-called The “Rose Revolution”, which forced Eduard Amvrosievich to resign as president of the country on November 23, 2003. After his resignation, Shevardnadze lived for almost eleven more years. He died on July 7, 2014 at the age of 87.

Eduard Shevardnadze
ედუარდ შევარდნაძე
Eduard Shevardnadze President of Georgia
November 26, 1995 - November 22, 2003
Predecessor: position restored; (1991-1993: Zviad Konstantinovich Gamsakhurdia
Successor: Nino Anzorovna Burjanadze (acting)
Mikhail Nikolozovich Saakashvili
Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia
November 6, 1992 - November 26, 1995
Predecessor: Position established;
Akaki Tornikovich Asatiani as Chairman of the Supreme Council
Successor: Zurab Vissarionovich Zhvania
Chairman of the State Council of Georgia
March 10, 1992 - November 6, 1992
Predecessor: position created
Successor: position abolished
Minister of Foreign Relations of the USSR
November 19, 1991 - December 26, 1991

July 2, 1985 - December 20, 1990
Prime Minister: Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov
Predecessor: Andrey Andreevich Gromyko
Successor: Alexander Alexandrovich Bessmertnykh
Member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee (July 1, 1985 - July 13, 1990)
Candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee
November 27, 1978 - July 1, 1985
First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia
September 29, 1972 – July 6, 1985

Party: CPSU (1948-1991)
Education: Kutaisi Pedagogical Institute named after. A. Tsulukidze
Religion: Orthodoxy, Georgian Church
Birth: January 25, 1928
Mamati, Lanchkhutsky district, Georgian SSR, TSFSR, USSR
Father: Ambrose Georgievich Shevardnadze
Spouse: Nanuli Rajenovna Tsagareishvili-Shevardnadze
Children: son: Paata
daughter: Manana

Eduard Amvrosievich Shevardnadze(Georgian ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე; January 25, 1928, Mamati, ZSFSR, USSR) - Soviet and Georgian political and statesman, Minister of Public Protection Order (1964-1968), Minister of Internal Affairs (1968-1972), First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party Georgian SSR (1972-1985), Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR (1985-1990), Minister of Foreign Relations of the USSR (1991), President of Georgia (1995-2003). From 1985 to 1990 - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. Hero of Socialist Labor, Major General of Internal Service.
Shevardnadze returned to Georgia after the overthrow of the regime of Zviad Gamsakhurdia and took the post of Chairman of the State Council, and then Chairman of the Parliament. However, he faced serious economic problems, the growing influence of the mafia and military operations in Abkhazia. Having become president of Georgia, he was unable to achieve the return of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the solution to the country’s political and economic problems. Forced to resign during the Rose Revolution.

Eduard Shevardnadze born on January 25, 1928 in the village of Mamati, Lanchkhuti region (Guria), Georgian SSR, in the family of a teacher. He began his career in 1946 as an instructor, and then head of the personnel department and organizational work of the Ordzhonikidze district Komsomol committee in Tbilisi. In the period from 1949 to 1951, Eduard Amvrosievich was a student at the two-year party school at the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia (Bolsheviks), after which he became an instructor at the Central Committee of the Komsomol of Georgia. In 1952, Shevardnadze became secretary, then second secretary of the Kutaisi regional committee of the Komsomol of the Georgian SSR, and the following year - first secretary of the Kutaisi regional committee of the Komsomol of the Georgian SSR.
Graduated from Tbilisi Medical College. In 1959 he graduated from Kutaisi Pedagogical Institute. A. Tsulukidze.
1956-1957 - second, in 1957-1961. First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of Georgia, during these years he met Mikhail Gorbachev.
From 1961 to 1963 he was the first secretary of the Mtskheta district committee of the Communist Party, and then from 1963 the first secretary of the Pervomaisky district party committee of Tbilisi. In the period from 1964 to 1965 - First Deputy Minister for the Protection of Public Order, from 1965 to 1972 - Minister of the Protection of Public Order, then - Minister of Internal Affairs of the Georgian SSR.
In 1972 - first secretary of the Tbilisi City Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia.

Leader of Soviet Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze
September 29, 1972 Eduard Shevardnadze was appointed First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia. Shevardnadze announced the launch of a campaign to combat corruption and the shadow economy. During the first year and a half of the personnel purge, he dismissed from their posts 20 ministers, 44 secretaries of district committees, 3 secretaries of city committees, 10 chairmen of district executive committees and their deputies, appointing KGB, Ministry of Internal Affairs and young technocrats in their places. According to V. Solovyov and E. Klepikova, in the first five years at the new post, more than 30 thousand people were arrested, half of whom were members of the CPSU; another 40 thousand were released from their posts.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 26, 1981, Eduard Amvrosievich was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.

USSR Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze
In 1985-1990 - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, from 1985 to 1990 - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, from 1976 to 1991 - member of the CPSU Central Committee. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 9-11 convocations.
Appointment of Eduard Shevardnadze to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR was unexpected. Shevardnadze created the image of a modern, democratic minister in contrast to the party functionary Gromyko. Gained great popularity in the West. He often gave lectures at foreign universities.

In January 1986, during a visit to Pyongyang, Shevardnadze signed the Agreement between the USSR and the DPRK on the delimitation of the economic zone and the continental shelf, as well as the Agreement on mutual travel of citizens of the USSR and the DPRK. In September of the following year, he made a visit to the United States, during which the parties managed to agree to begin full-scale bilateral negotiations on limiting and then stopping nuclear tests. During the visit, he signed an agreement on the creation of centers to reduce nuclear dangers. While on a working visit to Germany in January 1988, Shevardnadze reached an agreement to extend for five years the Agreement on the development and deepening of long-term cooperation in the field of economics and industry, and also signed a Protocol on consultations and a Protocol on negotiations related to the establishment of the Consulates General of the USSR in Munich and the Federal Republic of Germany in Kyiv. In April of the same year, with US Secretary of State George Shultz, he signed a Declaration of International Assurances and a Liaison Agreement to resolve the situation regarding Afghanistan.
Shevardnadze visited Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, as well as other countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
After the Tbilisi events of April 1989, he condemned the actions of the army.

On June 1, 1990, in Washington, together with US Secretary of State James Baker, he signed an agreement on the transfer to the United States of the Bering Sea waters along the dividing line Shevardnadze- Baker.
On December 20, 1990, from the rostrum of the IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, he announced his resignation “in protest against the impending dictatorship” and in the same year he left the ranks of the CPSU. According to Gorbachev, after his resignation, he offered Shevardnadze the post of vice president of the USSR, which he refused.

In November 1991, at the invitation of Gorbachev, he again headed the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs (called at that time the Ministry of Foreign Relations), but after the collapse of the USSR a month later this position was abolished.
In December 1991 E. A. Shevardnadze one of the first among the leaders of the USSR to recognize the Belovezhsky Accords and the upcoming demise of the USSR.
E. A. Shevardnadze was one of M. S. Gorbachev’s associates in pursuing the policy of perestroika, glasnost and détente.
The wife of Gennady Yanaev in an interview in 1996 (New Look newspaper) claimed that E. A. Shevardnadze abused the privileges of the party leader:

Gorbachev miscalculated with Gena... Gena is different, he did not care about his personal welfare. Not like, for example, our neighbor Shevardnadze, who managed to privatize a Moscow apartment before leaving for Tbilisi.

Eduard Shevardnadze Leader of independent Georgia
Eduard Shevardnadze Chairman of the State Council
Just weeks after leaving his leadership position in Moscow, Shevardnadze returns to power in his native Georgia. In December-January 1991-1992, Shevardnadze was the main organizer of the military coup in the Republic of Georgia, which removed President Zviad Gamsakhurdia and effectively stopped the civil war. The Mkhedrioni militant group, led by Jaba Ioseliani, played a major role in Shevardnadze’s coming to power.
Presidents of Georgia, Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan: Eduard Shevardnadze, Robert Kocharyan, Vladimir Putin and Heydar Aliyev. Moscow, 2000.
Eduard Shevardnadze, Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Abkhazia Gennady Gagulia. Sochi, 2003.

In 1992 - Chairman of an illegitimate body - the State Council of the Republic of Georgia. On June 24, 1992, in Sochi, he signed an Agreement with Russian President Boris Yeltsin on the principles of a peaceful settlement of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, which put an end to the Georgian-Ossetian military conflict. In 1992-1995. - Chairman of the Parliament of the Republic of Georgia, Chairman of the State Defense Council of Georgia. One of the initiators [source not specified 329 days] of the Georgian-Abkhaz war, which ended with the defeat of the Georgian army and the expulsion of the b.ch. Georgian population from Abkhazia.
In November 1992, Shevardnadze underwent the rite of holy baptism at the Cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church, receiving the church name George.

In the summer-autumn of 1993, a party of Shevardnadze’s supporters, the Union of Citizens of Georgia (UCG), was created. At the founding congress of the USG, held on November 21, Shevardnadze was elected chairman of the party. Meanwhile, Shevardnadze's rating gradually began to fall. One of the opposition leaders, leader of the Republican Party of Georgia Ivlian Khaindrava, gave an interview in February 1994 in which he expressed his opinion about Shevardnadze’s rule:
“As a realist, he cannot help but understand that as a politician in Georgia he has failed on all fronts. And now he sets himself a local goal: to preserve the external attributes of statehood, because he failed to preserve the internal ones, and he understands this. Do not bring the people to such a state where people die right on the streets. Maybe bring the country to some level of stability. Maybe after this he will consider his mission accomplished. This is a way out of the real situation. It is unlikely that he sees anything more. He sees the implementation of this, unfortunately, not in the direction of a market economy, strengthening the democratic process, but in a rollback to the times when all this existed. Perhaps, on a subconscious level, this craving for this manifests itself more and more, because in that situation it is simply easier for him, it is familiar to him, while others are unknown to him from his practice. Pressure from the opposition irritates him. It seems to me that he has already made his choice."

A completely different opinion in the same period was shared by the leader of the National Democratic Party of Georgia, Giorgi Chanturia:
“I am surprised by his inability to be the first person. The only thing I blame myself for is that I didn't think so. I thought he could build a state. He doesn't have a system. His opposition is right in one thing - give me your program. He doesn't have his own program. He is a victim of accidents, of some individual facts, and he plays on these facts, wants to balance. The Minister of Foreign Affairs can do this, but the head of state will not achieve results this way. A statesman must have at least a bad program of his own. And he must know why he is fighting, what he is going towards. And he just goes with the flow. Unlike Gamsakhurdia, he knows this trend. But I wouldn’t say that he feels comfortable in this current. It is almost impossible to predict the outcome of events today. He himself doesn't know what he wants. He is always waiting for some events. Regional or global scale. He attaches state significance to private acts, without having a state program.”

Eduard Shevardnadze President of Georgia

On November 5, 1995, presidential elections were held in Georgia, which was won by Eduard Shevardnadze, gaining 72.9% of the vote.
On February 9, 1998, the president survived an assassination attempt. In the center of Tbilisi, his motorcade was fired at from a grenade launcher and automatic weapons. However, an armored Mercedes saved his life.
In October 1998, the rebellion of Akaki Eliava broke out and was suppressed by government troops.
On April 9, 2000, he was re-elected President of the Republic of Georgia, receiving more than 82% of the votes of voters who took part in the elections.
In September 2002, Shevardnadze announced that after completing his presidential term in 2005, he intended to retire and begin writing memoirs.
On October 8, 2002, Shevardnadze said that his meeting with Putin in Chisinau was “the beginning of a turning point in Georgian-Russian relations” (the leaders of the countries announced their readiness to jointly fight terrorism).
The inscription on the Georgian parliament building reads: “Georgia without Shevardnadze.”

The Rose Revolution in the life of Eduard Shevardnadze
On November 2, 2003, parliamentary elections were held in Georgia. The opposition called on its supporters to engage in civil disobedience. They insisted that the authorities declare the elections invalid.

On November 20, the Georgian Central Election Commission announced the official results of the parliamentary elections. The pro-Shevardnadze bloc “For a New Georgia” received 21.32% of the votes, the “Union for Democratic Revival” - 18.84%. Shevardnadze's opponents considered this a “mockery” and an open, total falsification. The dubiousness of the election result led to the Rose Revolution on November 21-23. The opposition put forward an ultimatum to Shevardnadze - to resign as president, or the opposition will occupy the Krtsanisi residence. On November 23, 2003, Shevardnadze resigned.

Family of Eduard Shevardnadze

Eduard Shevardnadze was married to Nanuli Shevardnadze (maiden name - Tsagareishvili), he has two children and four grandchildren. Paat's son is a lawyer and works at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Daughter Manana works on Georgian television. The granddaughter of Sofiko Shevardnadze works in Russia at the Ekho Moskvy radio.

Awards of Eduard Shevardnadze
* Hero of Socialist Labor (1981)
* Five Orders of Lenin
* Order of the October Revolution
* Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (03/11/1985)
* Order of the Red Banner of Labor
* Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class. (Ukraine, October 1, 1999) - for outstanding personal contribution to the development of cooperation between Ukraine and Georgia, strengthening friendship between the Ukrainian and Georgian peoples.

Books by Eduard Shevardnadze
* Als der Eiserne Vorhang zerriss - Begegnungen und Erinnerungen. Metzler, Peter W., Duisburg 2007, Die deutsche Ausgabe ist Grundlage für alle Übersetzungen und Ausgaben außerhalb der georgischen Sprache. ISBN 978-3-936283-10-5
* When the Iron Curtain collapsed. Meetings and memories. Eduard Shevardnadze, ex-president of Georgia, former minister of foreign affairs of the USSR. Foreword by Alexander Bessmertnykh. Übersetzung aus der deutschen in die russische Sprache. Russische Lizenzausgabe von “Als der Eiserne Vorhang zerriss”; Grundlage der russischen Ausgabe ist die deutsche Ausgabe. M.: Publishing house "Europe", 2009, 428 p. ISBN 978-5-9739-0188-2
* Kui raudne eesriie rebenes. Übersetzung aus der deutschen in die estnische Sprache. Estnische Lizenzausgabe von “Als der Eiserne Vorhang zerriss”; Grundlage der estnischen Ausgabe ist die deutsche Ausgabe. Olion, Tallinn, 2009. ISBN 978-9985-66-606-7

What did the USSR Foreign Minister hide until his death?

On July 7, 2014, the second president of Georgia, former USSR Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, passed away. It would probably not be an exaggeration to say that he was the most famous Georgian politician (after Stalin and Beria), thanks to whom the world learned about the existence of such a state as independent Georgia. During meetings, US Secretary of State Baker sang to him lines from the Ray Charles song “Georgia on My Mind.”

For me, Shevardnadze, first of all, is the man on the podium of the Congress of People's Deputies, who loudly resigned and warned about dictatorship. This scene always appears before my eyes when I hear the name of the former leader of Georgia. I clearly remember all the details of that day: the gray-haired minister on the podium of the congress and the tears in the eyes of my mother, who was frightened by the words of the White Fox, as Shevardnadze was called.

Shevardnadze became the first member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, the highest government body at that time, in the history of the Soviet Union to voluntarily and so loudly resign. Before the “white fox,” or Comrade Sokolov, as Stalin, who loved to translate the names of his fellow countrymen into Russian, would have called him, no one had ever left such a high post of his own free will.

MAN-AGE

My acquaintance with the legendary politician took place several years ago at his residence in Krtsanisi, a prestigious area of ​​the Georgian capital. These days, the memories of that meeting do not leave me.

Photo by RIA Novosti

The singer’s cousin Nani Bregvadze helped him get into the ex-president’s house. I was writing a book about her, and baton Guram said that I should definitely talk about Nani with Eduard Amvrosievich. Of course, I myself really wanted to meet Shevardnadze. Ask, for example, how he helped Bregvadze’s husband, who was in prison. The husband of the great singer was convicted of some financial crimes and was serving time in Estonia, but Shevardnadze, who then held the post of Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, helped the man get a transfer to his homeland.

And even without that, Shevardnadze is the case when the expression “man of the era” is not at all a figure of speech.

At the entrance to the residence, the security carefully checked the contents of my briefcase and bag. And she allowed me to enter the territory. The first thing I saw was the grave of Nanuli, Shevardnadze’s beloved wife. TV presenter Oksana Pushkina, who made a program about her, told me about meetings with the First Lady of Georgia. Nanuli Razhdenovna received my friend so much that she returned to Moscow with a few extra pounds.

It was a beautiful love story. When Nanuli found out that Eduard was going to pursue a party career, she, despite her strongest feelings, suggested that he break up. Because her father was repressed, and this could have a negative impact on the young man’s advancement. Needless to say, Edward categorically rejected Nanuli’s proposal and said that he needed her, not a career.

True, in Georgia itself the attitude towards the first lady was ambiguous. It seems that they still can’t forgive her for her appearance on TV, during which Nanuli Razhdenovna said that a good housewife could run a household for 8 lari (about 5 dollars) - this was the amount of her pension at that time. The people's discontent was so significant that it was necessary to explain that in fact the wife of the leader of the country meant 8 lari a day.

Nanuli Shevardnadze passed away a year after her husband’s resignation as head of state. The ex-president received permission to bury his wife on the territory of the residence left to him. And he said that it was his will to be buried nearby.

EDWARD WAS SHY OF EXPENSIVE GIFTS

But, on my way to the meeting with Eduard Amvrosievich, I, of course, did not think about this and did not intend to talk about it. Moreover, I admit honestly, I did not hope that I would be able to talk with Shevardnadze about anyone else other than Nani Bregvadze. But the owner of the house, fortunately, turned out to be in the mood for a conversation that day not only about his favorite singer.

While waiting for baton Edward to appear in the room where he usually met with journalists, I was able to examine the interior. A table with many books and papers is quite a working environment, although Shevardnadze has been in retirement for nine years. Two leather armchairs with a sofa. On one wall there is an exhibition of paintings, among which you can easily recognize a painting by the great Georgian artist Lado Gudiashvili. Then they told me that Shevardnadze himself did not want to take this picture, he was generally opposed to expensive gifts. But Lado himself came to this house with the painting and said that if Edward didn’t take it, he would not communicate with him anymore.

Another wall was hung with a dozen photographs of the owner of the house - with his wife, with his eminent colleagues and friends.

Finally, Shevard-nadze himself appeared at the door. I already spoke a little Georgian then, and therefore addressed the ex-president in his native language. The moment of acquaintance passed rather reservedly. However, this did not surprise me at all - Eduard Amvrosievich probably had not even his thousandth interview.

True, I was lucky with the topic. Hearing the question about Bregvadze, Shevardnadze smiled:

“We had a special relationship with Nani. I respect her as a woman, as a worthy representative of the intelligentsia. I loved all her songs very much - both Georgian and romances. She is one of the best performers of Russian romances. Almost all Georgian women perform Russian romances beautifully. This is a special work, a manifestation of musicality and art. There was such a singer Tamara Tsereteli. She was the best performer of Russian romances. Mikhail Suslov (Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee for Ideology - Note by I.O.) once asked me: “Do you remember Tamara Tsereteli?” - "Not good". - “And I remember very well.”

COMMEMORATIVE PRESS CONFERENCE IN VIENNA, 1989

Photo by RIA Novosti

In general, our culture was highly valued in Moscow. When Gennady Kolbin was appointed second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia, he was summoned to the CPSU Central Committee for an interview with Suslov.

Kolbin admitted: “I can cope perfectly well with metallurgy, mechanical engineering, and everything else. But I don’t understand Georgian art.”

To which Suslov replied: “And this is the most important thing!”

Leonid Brezhnev loved Nani. I remember how he came to Georgia. Then Vasily Mzhavanadze was the first secretary, we had good relations with him. A feast was held in the restaurant on the funicular. And Nani was sitting next to Brezhnev.

He called her: “Noni, Noni.” I tried to kiss him several times, but she didn’t allow me.”

NANI IS NANI

I was told that in 2003 Nani supported politicians opposing Shevardnadze. During the same period, a meeting between the president and the intelligentsia took place at the State Chancellery. When the guests appeared in the hall, the president approached Nani Bregvadze, hugged and kissed her. Journalists, of course, did not miss the opportunity to ask the president a question - Nani supports his opponents, and here was such a warm meeting. In response, Shevardnadze looked at them and said: “Nani is Nani.”

I wondered if the head of Georgia himself liked to sing. Shevardnadze smiled again:

“No, my voice is bad too. True, my hearing is good, but I still rarely sing. Unless, when you drink a little, you want to sing... Friends, knowing this, forced me to drink and asked me to sing. Mostly Gurian songs. It is very difficult. Beautiful, but difficult. There is such a song “Hrimanchuri”. Once the ensemble led by Kavsadze gave a concert in Moscow. Stalin was present at it, Kalinin, and someone else from the top leadership. Stalin, when this song ended, asked Kalinin: “How do you like it? Did you like it? He replies: “The melody is good, but one voice is disturbing.” He didn't understand that this was the main thing. The whole point is in that one voice. Stalin, by the way, sang in his youth. Then there was no time for singing anymore.

I myself... I sang in Tsinandali once, in the Chavchavadze palace there is a large wine cellar... I really want to go there again, but I just can’t get around to it..."

WHY WERE THE DEFENDERS OF THE STALIN MONUMENT SHOOT?

Of course, I couldn’t help but ask about the episode with Nani’s husband, but Shevardnadze answered dryly: “I remember. But there have been many such cases in my life, what can I say about it.”

At the same time, it was noticeable that the ex-president was inclined to talk. He seemed pleased to remember the past. I couldn't miss such a chance.

It so happened that we met on the eve of the next anniversary of Khrushchev’s legendary speech at the 20th Party Congress, at the same time, in March 1956, the monument to Stalin was dismantled in Tbilisi.

Shevardnadze responded with pleasure to the given topic:

“I was working in Kutaisi then. In Tbilisi, dozens of people who came out to defend the monument to Stalin were shot, and their bodies were thrown into the Kura River. There was also a big demonstration in Kutaisi. The house in which our apartment was located was located on the road towards Tskhaltubo, in the very center. Early in the morning a voice was heard under the window: “Shevardnadze, gamodi!” That is, “come out!” I came out and there were 50-60 people standing there. They say: “There will be a rally on Stalin Square. Let's go to". We set off - the area was full of people. Performances followed performances, the Kutaisi people were quite aggressive, I performed ten times. Convinced that someone was wrong or right. In the end, everything worked out without bloodshed.

I knew about Khrushchev’s speech at the party congress from rumors. Everyone in my family were communists: my father was a member of the party since 1922, my older brothers also joined. I was the youngest.

One brother fought in Brest and died there. We couldn’t find his grave for a long time, I asked Masherov for help (Peter Masherov - in the sixties he was the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus. - Note by I.O.). And he helped find the grave. Genscher and I went (Hans-Dietrich Genscher - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany - Note by I.O.). There was such a situation that we had to go together.

Stalin's repressions did not escape our family. His father, he was a teacher, was saved from arrest by his student - he managed to warn him. And still, everyone in my family was party members. And everyone adored Stalin, even after his death.

I'm reading a lot about Stalin now. Something new always appears about him.”

I ask: when the opportunity arose to obtain any document related to Stalin, did Shevardnadze take advantage of it? It turned out that by order of Khrushchev, most of the documents were destroyed, as well as all the monuments to the leader.

“Only in Gori did the stone Stalin remain. When the tanks moved towards Gori to remove the monument, the entire population went out into the street and lay down in the way. 5 thousand people. This was in 1961. They shouted: “We are not afraid of tanks. We will die, but the monument will remain here.” Mzhavanadze called Khrushchev, they had a good relationship. And Mzhavanadze explained that a lot of blood could be shed: “I beg you, Nikita Sergeevich, let one monument remain.” And Khrushchev agreed.

There were big protests in Batumi, Kutaisi and Gori. But only in Gori were they able to defend. And these young people who came to power after me removed him. I was against it” (the monument to Stalin in his homeland, Gori, was dismantled in 2008 - Note by I.O.).

NANULI SHEVARDNADZE AND HER SISTER WERE ONE OF THE VICTIMS OF REPRESSION

Shevardnadze was close to many cultural figures. Thanks to his support, it became possible to shoot the film “Repentance” directed by Tengiz Abuladze - a film that has become a true symbol of the new era.

This was a rather brave act, for which, as those who survived the horrors of Stalin’s repressions say, Shevardnadze will be forgiven a lot.

Having decided to make a film about the repressions of 1937, Abuladze wrote an application on several pages and went with it to the highest authorities by Tbilisi standards - the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze.

“Tengiz took this small request, and it was in an embryonic state, to Eduard Shevardnadze,” says Nana Janelidze, who, together with Abuladze, became the author of the script for “Repentance.” - He thought for a long time and finally answered: “Come on, make a script”... We collected the material for more than two years. The film is based on stories and stories of real people; there is not a single fictitious moment in it. Mostly women came to us and told their stories - they were all victims of repression: wives, sisters, daughters of “enemies of the people.” The stories were very scary, then it was simply impossible to believe that this could happen in a reasonable state.”

Finally, the script was ready. 120 pages of text were again handed over to Eduard Shevardnadze. And again - a painful wait that lasted for six long months. The hope that at least something would come of this idea was fading before our eyes. There were times when the creators wanted to give up on everything, abandoning the bold idea. It seemed impossible to implement it.

But the meeting with Shevardnadze still took place. He admitted that what he read excited him. Eduard Amvrosievich gave the text of the script to his wife to read, and she cried for a long time. Nanuli Shevardnadze and her sister were among the victims of repression. Their father was once arrested in front of little girls, and this moment left an indelible mark on their memory.

“Shevardnadze said that the film must be made, but it must be made as general as possible, avoiding specifics,” continues Nana Janelidze. - There was another serious point - how to make sure that the film was released without censorship from Moscow. Then the USSR State Committee for Cinematography read and approved all the scripts, and they could kill someone like ours. Therefore, director Rezo Chkheidze (at that time - director of the Georgia-Film film studio - I.O. note) and Eduard Shevardnadze came up with an interesting move. Georgian television had two free hours, which were not subject to Moscow's censorship. This period of time could be subsidized by the Republican leadership. And they came up with the following idea: the film had to be packaged as a television film, and the money had to be allocated for it by local people. So we got past the Moscow censorship and started working.”

ARTISTS PLAYED A DECISIVE ROLE IN SHEVARDNADZE’S FATE

The first person of Georgia was on good terms, it seems, with all the great artists of his homeland. They, in fact, played a decisive role in the fate of Shevardnadze. We also talked about this during that meeting in Krtsanisi.

“When I lived in Moscow after resigning from the post of minister, representatives of our intelligentsia came to me and asked me to return to Georgia. It was completely destroyed. I didn't agree at first. The last one to arrive was actor Ramaz Chkhikvadze. And they persuaded: “If you don’t believe me, call your friends.” And my closest friends are Genscher, Baker, Dumas, Howe. I tried calling Genscher. I asked a friend what to do. Genscher said: “If your homeland calls, you cannot refuse.” And then he was the first foreign politician to come to Georgia.

Why did you refuse to go? Why, I thought. We lived normally in Moscow, the apartment was wonderful, 800 meters from work, everyone knew me and appreciated me. Even after retirement there were many friends.

In general, it’s strange when Gorbachev had the idea to take me, the secretary of the Central Committee, to the Foreign Ministry.

It was amazing for me. I remember Gorbachev called me: “Eduard, come to Moscow.” - "Urgently?" - "Urgently. Tomorrow after tomorrow". I arrive, and the Politburo is already raising the question of my appointment as head of the Foreign Ministry. For several decades, Andrei Andreevich Gromyko was the minister; it was he who formed the diplomatic school; it is not surprising that he wanted to appoint his own deputy in his place. But Gorbachev did not agree: “Now we need not so much a diplomat as a politician. Perestroika is underway." And he called my last name. I tried to refuse. But Gorbachev stood his ground: “It’s okay, you’ll get used to it.” And I didn’t even know where the Foreign Ministry was located.”

In his memoirs “Thoughts about the past and the future” (in the Russian edition this book is called differently - “When the Iron Curtain Collapsed. Meetings and Memories”) Shevardnadze described his first day in the high-rise on Smolenskaya Square: “To the deputies who had gathered to meet me, I openly I admitted that I was in a very difficult situation, that I would not be able to impress them with great knowledge in the field of foreign policy, but promised that I would work in such a way that I would not be ashamed in front of them, and they would not be ashamed of me. This will be especially difficult against the background of such an authoritative person as Andrei Andreevich. He is, after all, a foreign policy cruiser, and in comparison with him, I am a boat, albeit a motor one. Employees jokingly noted that a motor boat could also be a submarine, and some submarines could carry nuclear weapons and fire.”

However, Shevardnadze understood a lot about diplomacy already during his leadership of the Central Committee of the Georgian Party.

1973

Photo by RIA Novosti

Actress Sofiko Chiaureli told me about one of the episodes:

“When Shevardnadze was the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia, and I was a deputy of the Supreme Council, he asked me to speak in defense of an ancient church complex, next to which there was a training ground for Soviet troops. “You’re an actress, you can. Ask to move the training ground. Just try to cajole Brezhnev,” he admonished me. I went to the podium and said: “Of course, our soldiers need to study somewhere. But you can find another place. Dear Leonid Ilyich, I rely on you, you are the father of us all!” Brezhnev cried, came up to me, hugged me - the issue was resolved.”

The appointment of Shevardnadze as head of the Foreign Ministry became a world-class sensation. It was captivating that the Soviet minister not only knew how to negotiate, but also had a sense of humor. Once, during a visit to the States, Eduard Amvrosievich gave an interview to an American journalist. She asked what Mr. Minister’s plans were for the coming weekend.

Shevardnadze’s reaction was lightning fast: “What proposals do you have?”

The Georgians were proud that it was their fellow countryman who became the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. Shevardnadze has always been an authoritative politician, and therefore no one was surprised that it was with his name that the stabilization of the situation in already independent Georgia was associated, when a real war was going on in Tbilisi. The country was divided into supporters and opponents of then-president Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Witnesses to those events told me how one part of the townspeople shot at the windows of the Iveria Hotel so that a fire would start, and at the same time other Tbilisians stood in the corridors and poured water on the fire.

And this is where Shevardnadze was brought from Moscow to Georgia. It was precisely this verb - “brought” - that actress Sofiko Chiaureli used when she talked about the return of the country’s second president to her homeland. They believed Shevardnadze. When he suddenly announced his decision to resign, hundreds of citizens gathered in front of the parliament building and knelt down. The future president stayed.

REVOLUTION OF THREATS

Shevardnadze's political career ended in 2003, when the Rose Revolution took place in Georgia. Now the ex-president received security guarantees for himself and his family members and remained in Georgia, although many were sure that he would go abroad. In 2004, his beloved wife Nanuli passed away, Eduard Amvrosievich himself had ten years to live.

While in retirement, Shevardnadze wrote memoirs in which he called the reunification of Germany one of his achievements.

“My first contact with Germany was overshadowed by the death of my elder brother Akaki in Brest at the very beginning of the Second World War, and a lot of time had to pass before in my mind the image of the enemy, Nazi Germany, was replaced by another image, the German state with a highly civilized people...

Fate forever connected me with such Germany. And if one Georgian, the leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, played a decisive role in the victory over Germany, which led to its division, I, within my capabilities as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, tried to promote its unification.”

In the West, the attitude towards Shevardnadze was exceptional. When they decided to open a chain of McDonald's restaurants in Georgia, the company's top management expressed a wish to meet the head of the republic. Shevardnadze actually appeared at the opening ceremony of the first restaurant. Seeing the legendary politician, the Americans were speechless for some time from admiration and reverence. It was said that a photo of the President of Georgia with a Big Mac in his hand, which appeared the next day in American newspapers, contributed to an immediate increase in the company's stock prices.

The leader of the young independent country was open to everything new and welcomed the development of new business in the country. When Shevardnadze first took up a high post, he met with the Georgian elite. Having carefully looked at the former leaders of district and regional party committees who occupied the first rows of the hall, Shevardnadze unexpectedly declared that the worst thing was communism and socialism, and a return to the previous system was disastrous. And he, who was a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee for several years, knows this better than others. Former party bosses, who were anticipating a return to old times, were disappointed. And Eduard Amvrosievich, pointing to the young businessmen standing near the entrance to the hall, continued: “The future belongs to these guys!”

IT'S ALL ABOUT INTUITION

When I asked Shevardnadze what the secret of his incredibly successful career was, he answered - good intuition.

“I always guessed what would happen in a few days. I understood, for example, that in two days there would be a speech by my opponents, and I prepared for it. A politician must have meaningful intuition. It is very important. But to each their own. Everything is individual. The main thing is the head, the brain that works. And this is an extremely rare occurrence.”

The fate of Shevardnadze is truly admirable - the son of a teacher from a Gurian village became one of the co-authors of the modern history of the 20th century, which put an end to the Cold War and changed the political map of the world.

But there is no politician about whom only enthusiastic memories remain. Shevardnadze recalled the dispersal of the rally on April 9, 1989, although officially he then headed the USSR Foreign Ministry and was in Moscow. They did not forgive the death sentence for the young terrorists who hijacked the plane. It was a big story: on November 18, 1983, an attempt was made to hijack a plane flying from Tbilisi to Leningrad with 57 passengers and 7 crew members on board. The outcome of the “escape to the West” was a foregone conclusion - the airliner was stormed by special forces, and the participants in the hijacking were subsequently shot.

The leader of Georgia has had many controversial actions and decisions behind him, the chief judge of which will give an impartial assessment - time.

In 1992, Shevardnadze was baptized, and Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II became his godfather. Shortly before his resignation, the second president began construction of the grandiose Holy Trinity Cathedral (Sameba) in Tbilisi.

They say that he then said: “This will be the place from which they will bury me.”

Many experts in Western Europe consider him a top-class politician, since his services to the history of the USSR are incredibly great. First, he worked to end the Cold War and the fall of the Iron Curtain. Secondly, he contributed to the unification of Germany. And thirdly, he ensured the sovereignty of his native Georgia. And this is not all the achievements in big politics that Eduard Shevardnadze has achieved. At the same time, according to some media outlets, he made a dizzying career solely thanks to such qualities as cunning and business acumen. Moreover, having taken a high position in the public administration system, he initially had a very vague idea of ​​how he could be useful to the party leadership of the USSR. And although Shevardnadze had some experience working in the Komsomol and the Central Committee apparatus, he clearly lacked life experience and specialized education for the civil service when he took the chair of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And yet, Eduard Amvrosievich was able to prove that he was capable of not only party affairs, but also work in the highest echelons of power.

And his patron in big politics was the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR Leonid Brezhnev himself. Another general secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev, also favored the party functionary from Georgia.

Years of childhood and youth

Shevardnadze Eduard Amvrosievich is a native of the village of Mamati (Lanchkhuti district, Georgia). He was born on January 25, 1928 in a large family. His father taught Russian language and literature, and his mother was involved in housekeeping. Eduard Shevardnadze was the youngest child in the family. After graduating with honors from eight classes, the future head of the Union Ministry of Foreign Affairs travels to Tbilisi and enters a medical college. Eduard Shevardnadze chose the profession of a doctor on the recommendation of his parents, who had health problems. Three years later, the young man received a medical diploma, with honors. Eduard had the most promising prospects for continuing his studies at the university. As a holder of a diploma with honors, he could become a student at a medical institute without entrance exams.

Beginning of party career

But at the last moment the young man changed his mind. The fact is that, while still studying at the technical school, Eduard Shevardnadze began acting as secretary of the Komsomol committee. Over time, the young man became an activist in the above-mentioned youth structure, and after graduating from technical school, he was offered a place in the district committee of the Komsomol. Eduard Amvrosievich agreed.

In 1946, he was entrusted with the position of instructor in the Komsomol cell of the Ordzhonikidze district of Tbilisi, and then there he began to manage personnel selection issues and supervise organizational and instructional work. Soon, Eduard Amvrosievich Shevardnadze became a student of the party school, organized under the Georgian Central Committee of the Communist Party. For two years, the young man regularly visits the library, getting acquainted with the works of communist ideologists. After training, Shevardnadze becomes an instructor of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of Georgia. His career along the party line is rapidly rising. He works first as a secretary, then as a second secretary, and then as a first secretary of the Kutaisi Regional Committee of the Komsomol of Georgia. And even after the Khrushchev reform, which provided for the abolition of two regions of Georgia - Kutaisi and Tbilisi - Shevardnadze did not lose his post as secretary of the city Komsomol committee. Moreover, while working in this capacity, Eduard Amvrosievich did not receive high wages. By this time he already had a wife, and the problem of the family budget deficit often made itself felt. But all these were temporary difficulties. In the late 50s, a party functionary from the village of Mamati became a certified historian, graduating from the Kutaisi Pedagogical Institute.

Key position in home country

One could only envy the rise of Shevardnadze’s political career. In the mid-60s, he took the post of Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, and at the age of 44 he received the responsible and high post of First Secretary of the Republic. Eduard Shevardnadze, whose biography is of great interest to historians and political scientists of the Soviet period, in a new capacity begins the fight against corrupt officials in power and representatives of the shadow economy.

He initiates a personnel purge, completely dismissing negligent ministers, regional committee secretaries and city committee secretaries.

Reforms that could affect your career

Eduard Amvrosievich was also remembered as First Secretary of Georgia for his unusual reforms in the economy. In particular, he allocated land plots to his compatriots for a period of 10-15 years. After harvesting, farmers had to give 1/5 of it to the budget, and could take the rest for themselves. Naturally, such elements of a market economy, which gave the effect of enrichment, were unacceptable in a planned state. The then Secretary of the Central Committee for Agriculture, Mikhail Gorbachev, pointed this out to the Georgian innovator. Eduard Amvrosievich met him when he came on an inspection to Abasha. However, Gorbachev did not inform the Central Committee about Shevardnadze’s reforms that were unacceptable for the communist system. Moreover, Mikhail Sergeevich and Eduard Amvrosievich became friends after meeting in Georgia. But after some time, people at the top found out about the experiments of the first secretary of the GSSR. Checks began immediately, but Leonid Brezhnev himself intervened in the situation, ordering his subordinates to turn a blind eye to Shevardnadze’s innovative ideas. For some reason, the Secretary General turned out to be favorable to Eduard Amvrosievich.

In the early 80s, for his services in state affairs, the leader of the Georgian republic was awarded the Order of Lenin, the title of Hero of Socialist Labor and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal. Over time, he was also awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, the Order of the October Revolution, and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

In the mid-80s, power in the Land of the Soviets was in the hands of the last Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev. He entrusted the post of head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to his old friend, Shevardnadze.

At the same time, Eduard Amvrosievich became a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. As head of the department responsible for diplomatic contacts, he adhered to a pro-Western policy. Moreover, the issue of expanding NATO's eastern borders was the cornerstone in relations with foreign states. And Eduard Shevardnadze (Georgian by nationality) advocated signing a limited arms treaty (CFE Treaty). From 1985 to 1990, he made official visits to countries such as Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Jordan, Syria, Nigeria, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and others.

When on April 9, 1989, opposition forces were attacked by special forces at the Georgian Government House, resulting in casualties, Shevardnadze condemned forceful methods of resolving the conflict.

In December of the following year, he submitted an official resignation from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, and soon after that he handed over his party card. The politician motivated his decision by the fact that he did not like the way democratic reforms were being implemented in the Soviet Union. He even refused the post of vice president, which Gorbachev offered him. In the late autumn of 1991, Mikhail Sergeevich again asked Shevardnadze to head the Foreign Ministry. But the collapse of the USSR was approaching, and a few months later the position was abolished.

At the end of 1991, Eduard Amvrosievich himself recognized the legitimacy of the collapse of the Land of Soviets and the legality of the Belovezhskaya Accords.

After the collapse of the USSR, a coup d'état was carried out in Georgia. The President of the Republic, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, was overthrown, after which he immediately left the country. There were rumors that Eduard Shevardnadze secretly took part in the revolution directed against the overthrow of power. One way or another, the elite that won the coup invited the former Minister of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take the leadership of Georgia into his own hands. In the spring of 1992, Eduard Amvrosievich became the head of the State Council of the Republic of Georgia, and six months later he took the position of speaker of the republican parliament. A law introducing the post of head of the Georgian state was passed through the legislature, and in November 1992 it went to Shevardnadze. Having received a new post, Eduard Amvrosievich began to actively contact Boris Yeltsin. In the summer, Boris Nikolayevich and Shevardnadze signed an agreement in which they fixed the conditions for a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Ossetia and Georgia. This treaty was agreed upon after Shevardnadze unsuccessfully attempted to restore the independence of the Georgian people in Abkhazia.

In 1993, Eduard Amvrosievich legitimized the deployment of Russian military bases and peacekeeping forces in Georgia.

Elimination Attempt No. 1

Of course, not everyone in Georgia was happy that Eduard Shevardnadze came to power. An attempt on the politician's life was made in the summer of 1995. The incident occurred in Tbilisi, not far from the garage where the cars of government employees were located. Eduard Amvrosievich walked towards the Youth Palace to attend the ceremony of adoption of the Constitution. On the way, the Niva car suddenly exploded. Fortunately, the Georgian leader received minor injuries. The investigation was able to identify the person responsible for the incident. It turned out to be the head of the Ministry of Security, Igor Giorgadze. However, it was not possible to handcuff the civil servant. He fled to Moscow. The prosecutor's office put him on the international wanted list, but his trial took place only in 1997. Giorgadze denied his guilt in committing the crime, as a result of which Shevardnadze, who held the post of head of the State Council of the country, was injured.

Elimination Attempt No. 2

In the fall of 1995, presidential elections in Georgia began. 72.9% of voters voted for Eduard Amvrosievich. It was a stunning victory. The newly appointed head of the republic harshly criticized the activities of Zviat Gamsakhurdia and promised the people that from now on the Nazis would not come to power in his home country. Shevardnadze began to pursue a pro-Western policy.

In the fall of 1998, there was another attempt on the life of the President of Georgia. In the center of the capital, someone fired at Eduard Amvrosievich’s motorcade with a grenade launcher. But he was not injured: his life was saved by an armored Mercedes.

In the spring of 2000, Shevardnadze was again re-elected president. This time over 82% of voters voted for him. But after some time, elections to the Georgian parliament began, which seriously changed the political balance of power.

Resignation

The opposition was not ready to recognize the results of the elections, in which Shevardnadze's party received 21% of the votes, and the bloc of democrats - 18%. In November 2003, the “Rose Revolution” broke out, and the liberals put forward a condition: either the current president resigns, or the opposition occupies the Krtsanisi residence. Eduard Shevardnadze was forced to make concessions and on November 23 resigned as head of the Georgian republic.

Life in retirement

Having retired from government affairs, Eduard Amvrosievich spent almost all his time in his household located in the capital of Georgia. He was dissatisfied with the political course followed by Mikheil Saakashvili. He joined the opposition Georgian Dream alliance, which became the ruling force in 2012.

Shevardnadze began to write books about the events of the past: “When the Iron Curtain collapsed. Meetings and memories”, “Thoughts about the past and future”. In the fall of 2015, a documentary film was shown on one of the Russian television channels, in the center of the plot of which was Eduard Shevardnadze. “A blow with power” - that’s what it’s called. The authors of this material tried to reveal in detail the biography of the politician.

Personal life

What else, besides a political biography, might interest the audience when it comes to such a colorful figure as Eduard Shevardnadze? Family, children, of course.

The ex-president of Georgia met his wife Nanuli Tsagareishvili when he was a graduate of the party school. He proposed marriage to the girl, but unexpectedly received a refusal. The fact is that Nanuli’s father turned out to be an officer of the Red Army, who was recognized as an enemy of the people. Eduard Amvrosievich’s chosen one simply did not want to spoil her lover’s career, so she refused to marry him. But Shevardnadze courted her so persistently and beautifully that Nanuli finally accepted his proposal. And then offspring appeared in their family. The children of Eduard Shevardnadze are son Paata (lawyer and businessman) and daughter Manana (TV journalist). They gave their father four grandchildren.

Death

The ex-president of Georgia in the fall of 2004 had a hard time experiencing the death of his wife. He outlived her by 10 years. In the summer of 2014, Eduard Shevardnadze also died in his mansion. The cause of death is old age. He was 86 years old. The funeral of Eduard Shevardnadze took place on July 13, 2014 at his capital residence.