Irakli Gruzinsky

Prince Erakle of Georgia
ერეკლე ბატონიშვილი
Spouse Tamar Chavchavadze
Issue
  • Alexander (c. 1877–1879)
  • Mariam (1876–1877)
  • Yelizaveta (1870–1942)
  • Yekaterina (1872–1917)
Dynasty Bagrationi dynasty
Father Alexander, Prince of Georgia
Mother Mariam Melik-Aghamalyan
Born 18 August 1826
Erivan Khanate, Persian Empire
Died April 27, 1882 (aged 55)
Paris, France

Prince Erekle of Georgia (Georgian: ერეკლე ალექსანდრეს ძე ბატონიშვილი Erekle Aleksandris dze Batonishvili; Russian: Ираклий Александрович Грузинский, Irakly Aleksandrovich Gruzinsky; 18 August 1826 – 27 April 1882) was a prince of the Georgian House of Bagrationi and a colonel in the Russian Imperial army. He was a grandson of Erekle II, the penultimate king of Georgia, and the son of Prince Alexander, a staunch opponent of the Russian possession of Georgia.

Early life

Prince Erekle was born in 1826 in Yerevan, then part of the Erivan Khanate in the Persian Empire. His father, Prince Aleksandre of Georgia had been fighting on the side of the Persian army in trying to overthrow the Russian Empire since it entered Georgia in 1800. Erekle's mother was Mariam, daughter of Sahak Melik-Aghamalyan, the influential Armenian dignitary of Erivan. Soon after Erekle's birth, Erivan was taken by the Russian army in the course of the Russo–Persian war of 1826–1828, which occasioned Alexander's separation with his family. Mariam and Erekle lived in Erivan until 1834, when they were moved by the Russian government to Saint Petersburg, where Erekle received his military training, first at the Alexandrovsky Military College and then the Page Corps.[1]

Career

Erekle saw his first promotion to lieutenant in 1845 for his conduct during the expedition against the Lezgians in the Caucasus War, a year after his father died in exile in Tehran. He was transferred to the Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers in 1852 and retired with the rank of colonel in 1855. He rejoined the Caucasian Army in 1858, but retired shortly thereafter due to failing health. He was recognized in the title of Prince (knyaz) Gruzinsky, literally, "of Georgia", in 1833 and granted the style of His Serene Highness, for himself and his male-line descendants in 1865. He was an object of romantic affection of Bertha von Suttner, an Austrian novelist and the first woman to become a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, but Prince Erekle did not reciprocate.[2][3] Years later, von Suttner befriended Erekle's young wife Tamar, with whom she stayed during her visits to Tiflis and Paris.[4]

Family

Prince Erekle was married to Tamar (Russian: Тамара Давидовна Грузинская, Tamara Davidovna Gruzinskaya) (24 January 1852 – 1933), daughter of Lieutenant-General Prince David Chavchavadze. Tamar, a lady of honour to the Empress of Russia, was a prominent socialite and philanthropist. She first became known to the larger public at the age of 2 when she was part of the Chavchavadze family abducted and held in captivity for 10 months by Imam Shamil's men in 1854 during the Crimean War.[5]

Of the couple's four children, only two daughters survived into adulthood. A son, Alexander (c. 1877–1879), and a daughter, Mariam (1876–1877), died very young. The surviving elder daughter, Yelizaveta (1870–1942), was a journalist and translator also known by her pen name Sazandari; she was married to Prince Mamuka Orbeliani (died 1924). The younger daughter, Yekaterina (1872–1917), was married to Prince Ivan Ratiev, known for his protection of the imperial treasure of the Winter Palace during the Bolshevik revolution in 1917.[1]

Prince Erekle died in Paris, where he had sought treatment for an illness, at aged 56. He was buried at the Cathedral of Mtskheta in Georgia.[1]

Ancestry

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Montgomery 1980, p. 66.
  2. ↑ Evlanoff 1943, p. 52.
  3. ↑ von Suttner 1910, pp. 111–118.
  4. ↑ von Suttner 1910, pp. 171, 314.
  5. ↑ Verderevsky 1857, p. 7.

References