Zviad Konstantines dze Gamsakhurdia was a Georgian politician, human rights activist, dissident, professor of English language studies and American literature at Tbilisi State University, and writer who became the first democratically elected President of Georgia in May 1991.
Gamsakhurdia in 1989
Leaders of Georgian independence movement in late 80s, Zviad Gamsakhurdia (left) and Merab Kostava (right)
Gravestone of President Gamsakhurdia in Tbilisi.
Gamsakhurdia on a 2019 postage stamp commemorating his would-be 80th birthday
The president of Georgia is the ceremonial head of state of Georgia as well as the commander-in-chief of the Defense Forces. The constitution defines the presidential office as "the guarantor of the country's unity and national independence."
President of Georgia
Image: Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Tbilisi, 1988
Image: Eduard shevardnadze
Image: Nino Burjanadze (Tbilisi, December 5, 2003)