Eduard Shevardnadze, Former President Of Georgia, Dies At 86

Photo dated 10 February 1998 of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze stressing a point as he speaks in the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi after he survived an assassination attempt in the centre of the capital. Photo by EPA/STR.

Former President of Georgia and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze has died at the age of 86 in Tbilisi, Monday.

The news of his death has been officially confirmed by Shevardnadze’s family and personal press service.

Shevardnadze was a former Soviet minister of foreign affairs, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party from 1972 to 1985, and as the President of independent Georgia from 1992 to 2003.

Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy in the Gorbachev Era. He was forced to retire in 2003 as a consequence of the bloodless Rose Revolution.

He survived several assassination attempts, including an assault on his motorcade with anti-tank weapons.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin have offered their condolences to Shevardnadze’s family and the people of Georgia.

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