GEGECHKORI, EVGENI (1881-1954). Menshevik revolutionary and government official. He studied at Moscow University and became active in the student movement in 1903-1904, joining the Menshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party of Workers (RSDRP) in 1903. Two years later, he took part in revolutionary events in Georgia. In 1907-1912, he was elected as a delegate of the Kutaisi Province to the 3rd State Duma, where he became one of the leaders of Social Democratic faction. During the February Revolution in 1917, Gegechkori became commissar for the Provisional Government in western Georgia and later served as chairman of the Transcaucasian Soviet of Soldiers’ Deputies of the 1st convocation. In June 1917, he was elected to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. In November 1917 - April 1918 he chaired the Transcaucasian Commissariat and served as minister of labor before leading the Transcaucasian Seim and becoming its minister of war. In March 1918, he rejected the provisions of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and sought separate treaty with the Ottoman Empire. After the establishment of independent Georgia, he was elected to the Constituent Assembly and was appointed minister of foreign affairs, playing a prominent role in the Georgian-Turkish and Georgian-German negotiations. In March 1921, he joined other members of the Menshevik government as it went into exile in France. He remained active in exile, serving in the foreign delegation of the Georgian Social Democratic party.

ALM