Alexander Kartveli
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Alexander Kartveli (1896-1974, born Kartvelishvili ) was one of the greatest aircraft engineers of the 20th century and a pioneer of American aviation.
Kartveli was born in Tbilisi (Capital of Georgia). He graduated from the Gymnasium in Tbilisi (1914).
Kartveli graduated in 1922 from the Highest School of Aviation in Paris. In 1922-1927, he worked for a while at the Louis Bleriot Company and designed the "Bernard" and "Ferbois" aircraft . In 1924, one of his aircraft established a world speed record.
In 1927, American millionaire Charles Levine invited Kartveli to New York. In 1928 he joined the Fokker American Company. In 1931 Kartveli met well-known engineer Alexander de Seversky, who was also from Georgia, and became Chief Engineer at the Seversky Aircraft Corporation. In 1939 this Company changed its name to the "Republic Aviation Company".
Kartveli and Seversky created a series of aircraft and during World War II they designed one of its greatest planes, the Republic P-47.
After World War II, Kartveli designed well-known aircraft such as the F-84 Thunderjet, the Republic F-105 and the Republic F-84.
Kartveli died in 1974, in New York.
