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 | |
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სალომე ზურაბიშვილი | |
.jpg) Zourabichvili in 2024 | |
| 5th President of Georgia | |
Incumbent (Disputed) | |
| In office 16 December 2018 – Disputed[a] | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Giorgi Margvelashvili |
| Succeeded by | Mikheil Kavelashvili (disputed) |
| 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 11 September 2003 – 20 March 2004 | |
| President | Jacques Chirac |
| Preceded by | Mireille Musso |
| Succeeded by | Philippe Lefort |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Salomé Zourabichvili 18 March 1952 Paris, France |
| Citizenship |
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| Political party |
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| Other political affiliations | Georgian Dream (2018)[2] |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 2 |
| Relatives |
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| Education | |
| Signature |  |
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Salome Zourabichvili[b][c] (born 18 March 1952) is a French-born Georgian politician, former diplomat and the fifth president of Georgia – the first female president in the country's history.[d] As a result of the constitutional amendments that came into effect in 2024, Zourabichvili became the last popularly elected president; under the new constitutional rules, moving forward Georgian presidents 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.
Following disagreements with Georgia’s then-ruling party United National Movement, in 2006 Zourabichvili launched 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 UNM nominee Grigol Vashadze. During her presidential campaign, Zourabichvili was endorsed by the ruling Georgian Dream party; however, following the 2020–2021 Georgian political crisis, Zourabichvili became increasingly alienated from the GD-led Georgian government, a rift that worsened following the 2023 Georgian protests. As part of this inter-institutional conflict, the ruling party launched an impeachment proceeding against Zourabichvili in September 2023, but it failed to gather sufficient votes to impeach her. Conflict with the ruling party has since developed into the 2024–2025 Georgian constitutional crisis. When Mikheil Kavelashvili was elected as her successor, the validity of the election was contested, with Zourabichvili stating that she remains president until a legitimate replacement can be elected.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Georgian Dream will support Salome Zurabishvili in forthcoming presidential election". commonspace.eu. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
- ^ "A Georgian Reborn, Still Straddling Two Cultures", The Washington Post, 4 June 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...