Back Зурабишьвили, Саломе Леван-иԥҳа Abkhazian Salome Zoerabisjwili Afrikaans سالوميه زورابيشفيلي Arabic سالوميه زورابيشفيلى ARZ Salome Zurabişvili Azerbaijani Salome Zurabishvili BCL Саламэ Зурабішвілі Byelorussian Саламэ Зурабішвілі BE-X-OLD Саломе Зурабишвили Bulgarian Salomé Zourabichvili Catalan
Salome Zourabichvili | |
|---|---|
სალომე ზურაბიშვილი | |
.jpg) Zourabichvili in 2024 | |
| 5th President of Georgia | |
| Assumed office 16 December 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Mamuka Bakhtadze Giorgi Gakharia Irakli Garibashvili Irakli Kobakhidze |
| Preceded by | Giorgi Margvelashvili |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 20 March 2004 – 18 October 2005 | |
| President | Mikheil Saakashvili |
| Preceded by | Tedo Japaridze |
| Succeeded by | Gela Bezhuashvili |
| Leader of The Way of Georgia | |
| In office 11 March 2006 – 12 November 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Party established |
| Succeeded by | Kakha Seturidze |
| Member of the Parliament of Georgia | |
| In office 18 November 2016 – 22 December 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Zaza Papuashvili |
| Succeeded by | Lado Kakhadze |
| Parliamentary group | Independent |
| Constituency | Mtatsminda |
| Ambassador of France to Georgia | |
| In office October 2003 – 20 March 2004 | |
| President | Jacques Chirac |
| Preceded by | Mireille Musso |
| Succeeded by | Philippe Lefort |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 March 1952 Paris, France |
| Citizenship | Georgian French (until 2018) |
| Political party | Way of Georgia (2006–2011)[1] Independent (2011–present) |
| Spouses |
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| Relations | Niko Nikoladze (great-grandfather) Hélène Carrère d'Encausse (cousin) Nicolas Zourabichvili (cousin) |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Orbeliani Palace, Tbilisi, Georgia |
| Education | Sciences Po Columbia University |
| Signature |  |
Salome Zourabichvili[a] (French: Salomé Zourabichvili [sa.lɔ.me zu.ʁa.biʃ.vi.li], Georgian: სალომე ზურაბიშვილი, [ˈsaɫome ˈzuɾabiʃʷili]; born 18 March 1952) is a French-born Georgian politician and former diplomat, currently serving as the fifth president of Georgia, in office since December 2018. She is the nation’s first female president,[2] a position she will occupy for a term of six years. As a result of constitutional changes coming into effect in 2024, Zourabichvili is expected to be Georgia's last popularly elected president; future heads of state are to be elected indirectly by a parliamentary college of electors.
Zourabichvili was born in Paris, France, into a family of Georgian political refugees. She joined the French diplomatic service in the 1970s and over three decades went on to occupy a variety of increasingly senior diplomatic positions. From 2003 to 2004, she served as the Ambassador of France to Georgia. In 2004, by mutual agreement between the presidents of France and Georgia,[3] she accepted Georgian nationality and became the Foreign Minister of Georgia. During her tenure at the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), she negotiated a treaty that led to the withdrawal of Russian forces from the undisputed parts of the Georgian mainland.
After disagreements with Georgia's then-ruling party United National Movement, in 2006 Zourabichvili founded her own political party, which she led until 2010. Ultimately, she was elected to the Georgian Parliament in 2016 as an independent. In 2018, Zourabichvili ran for president as an independent candidate and prevailed in a run-off vote against the United National Movement nominee Grigol Vashadze. During her presidential campaign Zurabichvili was endorsed by the ruling Georgian Dream party; however, following the 2020–2021 Georgian political crisis, Zourabichvili became increasingly alienated from the Georgian government, a rift that worsened after the 2023 Georgian protests. The inter-institutional conflict eventually led to the Parliament launching an impeachment proceeding against Zourabichvili in September 2023, but they failed to gather sufficient votes to impeach her.
- ^ "Presidential Candidate Apologizes for Unethical Address to Reporters". Georgia Today on the Web. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ In her capacity as Speaker of Parliament, Nino Burjanadze briefly served as acting president on two occasions
- ^ "A Georgian Reborn, Still Straddling Two Cultures", The Washington Post, June 4, 2004 : "I was surprised. But without thinking I said yes, on condition that President Chirac agreed. He not only liked the idea, but was enthusiastic about trying it out...This was not a defection, it was the marriage of both my parts...
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