Salome Zourabichvili

Salome Zourabichvili
სალომე ზურაბიშვილი
Zourabichvili in 2019
5th President of Georgia
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 December 2018
Prime Minister	Mamuka Bakhtadze Giorgi Gakharia Irakli Garibashvili Irakli Kobakhidze
Preceded by	Giorgi Margvelashvili
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
Personal details
Born	(1952-03-18) 18 March 1952 (age 72) Paris, France
Citizenship	Georgian French (Until 2018)
Political party	Way of Georgia (2006–2011)[1] Independent (2011–present)
Spouses	Nicolas Gorjestani ​ ​ (m. 1981; div. 1992)​ Janri Kashia ​ ​ (m. 1993; died 2012)​
Relations	Niko Nikoladze (Great-grandfather) Hélène Carrère d'Encausse (Cousin)
Children	2
Residence(s)	Orbeliani Palace, Tbilisi, Georgia
Education	Sciences Po Columbia University
Signature

Salome Zourabichvili^[a] (French: Salomé Zourabichvili, Georgian: სალომე ზურაბიშვილი, [saɫome zuɾabiʃʷili]; born 18 March 1952) is a French and Georgian politician and former diplomat, currently serving as the fifth president of Georgia, in office since December 2018. She is the first woman to be elected as Georgia's president,^[2] a position she will occupy for a term of six years. As a result of constitutional changes coming into effect in 2024, Zourabichvili is expected to be Georgia's last popularly elected president; future heads of state 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. She has also served at the UN Security Council’s Iran Sanctions Committee as the Coordinator of the Panel of Experts.

After a falling out with Georgia's then president Mikheil Saakashvili, in 2006 Zourabichvili founded The Way of Georgia political party, which she led until 2010. Ultimately, she was elected to the Georgian Parliament in 2016 as an independent; she vacated her parliamentary seat after being sworn in as president. Zourabichvili ran in the 2018 Georgian presidential election as an independent candidate and prevailed in a run-off vote against the United National Movement nominee Grigol Vashadze. During her presidential campaign Zurabichvili was endorsed by the ruling Georgian Dream party; however, following the 2020–2021 Georgian political crisis, Zourabichvili has become increasingly alienated from the Georgian government, which has also heightened after the 2023 Georgian protests. The inter-institutional conflict eventually led to the Parliament launching the impeachment proceeding against Zourabichvili in September 2023, alleging violation of Constitution on her behalf. However, the Parliament ultimately failed to impeach Zourabichvili.

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