Giorgi Abashvili

Georgy Abashvili (Georgian: გიორგი აბაშვილი; Russian: Георгий Семенович Абашвили, Georgiy Semyonovich Abashvili) (8 January 1910 – 26 September 1982) was a Soviet naval commander, vice-admiral (1955).

For the fictional character in Brecht's play, see The Caucasian Chalk Circle.
Giorgi Abashvili
Personal details
Born
Georgiy Semyonovich Abashvili

8 January 1910
Tiflis, Tiflis Governorate, Caucasus Viceroyalty, Russian Empire
Died26 September 1982(1982-09-26) (aged 72)
Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
NationalitySoviet
Political partyCommunist Party of the Soviet Union (1927-1962)
ProfessionSailor
Military service
Allegiance Soviet Union
Branch/service Soviet Navy
Years of service1927–1962
Rank Vice Admiral
Commandsdestroyer divisions
cruiser Maxim Gorky
cruiser Chapayev
naval squadrons
naval task forces
Battles/warsWinter War

World War II
Cold War
Cuban Missile Crisis

An ethnic Georgian, Abashvili was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, then part of the Russian Empire. He graduated from the Leningrad Naval College in 1931 and joined the Soviet Baltic Fleet with which he served through the Finnish campaign and World War II. In 1944, he was deputy chief of staff of the Baltic Fleet and also commanded a division of destroyers which played a vital role in relieving the blockade of Leningrad.[1] In 1953 he was senior officer with the Soviet vessels visiting Poland and in 1954 with those called in Finland.[2] During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Abashvili was deputy commander-in-chief to Issa Pliyev and naval commander in the proposed Group of Soviet forces in Cuba (Operation Anadyr).[3] According to one account, he was against the immediate use of force during the crisis days. He is said to have delayed the Soviet missile launch order during the height of tensions and became one of the people who contributed in preventing a nuclear war.[4] He retired the same year and died of stroke in Leningrad in 1982.

References
  1. (in Georgian) აბაშვილი, გიორგი ("Abashvili, Giorgi"), in: ქსე (Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia), v. 1, p. 17. Tbilisi: 1975
  2. Jones, David R. (1978), The Military-naval encyclopedia of Russia and the Soviet Union, v. 1, p. 34. Academic International Press, ISBN 0-87569-028-9
  3. (in Russian) Korshunov, Yuri (2004), Россия, какой она не стала (The Russia which it never became), p. 299. Olma Media Group, ISBN 5-7654-4002-9
  4. http://www.pseudology.org/CubaCrisis/Obdin_NL_2.htm
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