Georgian, Irakli Alexandrovich

The only son of the Georgian prince Alexander Bagrationi ( 1770 - 1844 ) and Maria Isaakovna of Georgia ( 1808 - 1882 ), grandson of the king of the Kartli-Kakhetian kingdom of Irakli II .

Born in 1826 in Yerevan , then part of Iran . His father Alexander fled from Georgia in 1800 and unsuccessfully tried to overthrow Russian dominion with the help of Persia . His mother Mariam was the daughter of Isaac Melik-Aghamalyan, an influential Armenian dignitary in the Yerevan Khanate .

As a result of the Russian-Iranian war of 1826–28, Yerevan was taken by the Russian army, which led to the separation of Prince Alexander from his family. Mariam, along with her son Heraclius, lived in Yerevan until 1834 , when they were resettled by the Russian government in St. Petersburg . In the Russian capital, Irakli Aleksandrovich enlisted in the military. Initially, he studied military affairs at the Aleksandrovsky Military School , then in the Page Corps .

In 1844, Prince Alexander Bagrationi died in exile in Tabriz ( Iran ). In 1845, for successful action during the military campaign against the Lezgins during the Caucasian War, Heraclius was promoted to lieutenant . In 1855 he entered the Grenadier Horse Regiment, in 1855 he retired with the rank of colonel . In 1858, Irakli Alexandrovich returned to the Russian army, who fought in the Caucasus, but soon retired due to the deterioration of his health.

The Russian government granted Irakli Alexandrovich Bagrationi the title of Prince of Georgia in 1833 . In 1865 the princely title was confirmed for him and his male descendants.

Heraclius Gruzinski was the object of the romantic love of the Austrian writer Bertha von Suttner , who was the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, but the prince did not reciprocate her. Later, Bertha von Suttner became friends with the prince's young wife, Tamara, whom she met during her visits to Tiflis and Paris .

In April 1882, the 55-year-old prince Irakli Alexandrovich Gruzinsky died in Paris . He was buried in the Mtskheta Cathedral in Georgia.

The name of Heraclius Gruzinsky was carried by a street in Tiflis ^[1] (now Sultan-Saba Orbeliani Street ).

He was married (April 19, 1870, Paris) to Princess Tamara Davidovna Chavchavadze (1852–1933), daughter of Lieutenant-General , Prince David Alexandrovich Chavchavadze . Tamara Gruzinskaya, maid of honor of the Russian Empress, was a prominent social lady and philanthropist . She first became known to the public at the age of two, when she and the Chavchavadze family were abducted in 1854 by Chechen highlanders led by Imam Shamil . The couple had three daughters and one son in marriage:

• Elizabeth ( 1870 - 1942 ), journalist, wife of Prince Mamuka Ivanovich Orbeliani ( 1873 - 1924 )
• Catherine ( 1872 - 1917 ), wife of Prince Ivan Dmitrievich Ratiev ( 1868 - 1958 )
• Mariam ( 1876 - 1877 ), died in childhood
• Alexander (c. 1877 - 1879 ), died in childhood

• Montgomery, Hugh, ed. (1980). Burke's Royal Families of the World. - Vol. 2. - L .: Burke's Peerage. - ISBN 0-85011-029-7 .
• von Suttner, Bertha (1910). Memoirs of Bertha von Suttner. The records of an eventful life. - Vol. I. - Boston and L .: Published for the International School of Peace, Ginn and Company.