10 most famous Georgians

Couple weeks ago one of my course mates asked who is or was the most famous Georgian. It was an easy question with an obvious answer. However, later on when I started to think about other Georgians the answer was not always very clear. Anyway, here is the list of 10 most famous Georgians, I don’t claim that this is neccesarilly reality, however these are 10 people who come to my mind for the moment.

10. Shota Arveladze – The only footballer in the list. The reason why he got there is his good performance for Glasgow Rangers. Before coming to Rangers he also had a good career in Ajax, Trabzonspor and Dinamo Tbilisi. He played 60 games for the Georgian National team and scored 26 goals in total. For the moment he is a head coach of Kayserispor in Turkey.

9. Zaza Pachulia – Another sportsman in the list. Those who watch NBA games regulary will, definitely know Pachulia as one of the leaders for Atlanta Hawks. He is also a captain of Georgian National team.

8. Merab Mamardashvili – One of the greatests philosophers of 20th century, whose name unfortunately remained unknown for the wider audience in western world. Instead, he stayed in Soviet Union and was conducting his lectures mainly in USSR cities. Despite of numerous invitations to western universities and being a globalist, Mamardashvili probably saw himself connected to his homeland and refused to accept the invitations.

7. Mikhail Kalatozov – Georgian-Russian film maker, his films gained numerous prizes for different film festivals. His most famous work is probably The Cranes Are Flying which won him Palme d’or in cannes in 1958.

6. Giya Kancheli – a Georgian composer currently resident of Belgium. His music is often described as spiritual and compared to John Tavener and Arno Part. He is also known for composing soundtracks for film and theatre.

5.  Katie Melua – Katie lived in Georgia before the age of 8, when her family moved to Northern Ireland. She was United Kingom’s best selling artist in 2006. Allegedly Katie Melua owns £ 18 million pounds what makes her seventh richest British musician under thirty.

4. Otar Ioseliani – His films were censored and banned often in Soviet times, this forced him to leave the country and settle in France in 1982, where he still leaves. The same year, before leaving for France his film “Pastorale” succeeded in Berlin film festival. His films mainly produced in France are regular winners of prestigious film awards.

3. Edward Shevardnadze – There is a joke that one Georgian divided Germans into two parts, while another one united them decades later . The second one in this case is Edward Shevardnadze, who served as USSR’s minister of foreign affairs from 1985 to 1991. He was Georgia’s second president later from 1995 to 2003, when he had to leave his post as a result of Rose Revolution in the country.

2. George Balanchene – born as Giorgi Balanchivadze he later became one of the pioneers of ballet in USA and co-founded New York ballet. Being a choreographer known for his musicality he did not illustrate music but expressed it in dance and worked extensively with Igor Stravinsky.

1. Joseph Stalin – Dictator, who served as first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953. Despite of being seen only as a dictator here is how Franklin D. Roosevelt described him during Yalta conference in 1943, “I just have a hunch that Stalin is not that kind of a man. … I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing from him in return, noblesse oblige, he won’t try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace.” – he said.