Memed Abashidze, a writer and prominent political figure, was a proponent of Georgian national unity during the early Soviet period.

The Abashidze family crest

The Abashidze family is one of the great leadership dynasties of ancient and contemporary Georgia. For centuries they have played a highly significant role in the history of Georgia. Their traditional family symbol, seen below at right, shows an unbroken white horse on a background of the Georgian Royal Emblem and the Mantle of the Abashidze family emblem.

The first family member to be recorded as residing in the Adjara region was Kakhaber Abashidze, who was the originator of the aristocratic family. He was Governor of the ancient region from 1463 till 1520.

One of the most significant ancestors, Giorgi Abashidze, served as ruler of the Imereti Region of Georgia beginning at the end of the 17th Century. A driven leader, Giorgi V achieved great political power but was also focused on cultural and building activities and “had the ability to compose poems,” according to the Encyclopedia of Georgia. His power was a threat to other regional leaders who, working with the Ottoman Empire, had him deposed in 1711.

The Abashidzes have played a leadership role in Western Georgia through modern history. Recent leadership fell on the shoulders of Memed Abashidze, a prominent public and political figure. Memed, a writer and publicist who sacrificed his life for national unity, was recognized as a leader of the national liberation movement of southwestern Georgia. He was executed by Soviet rulers in 1937. His younger brother, an earlier Aslan Abashidze, was also a person of great physical and moral courage. He was a General in independent Georgia from 1918 to 1921.

The current Aslan Abashidze, President of Adjara, has written “The tree of Adjarian Abashidzes has undergone, with honor, the tremendously difficult path of the struggle for a unified, independent and strong Georgia, and the welfare of one of its most beautiful parts – Adjara. The majority of them had been sacrificed for practical implementation of that goal, including my grandfather – Memed Abashidze. All should chose the same hard way and follow it firmly and unaltered”.