Prince Zurab Avalishvili (1876 - May 21, 1944) was an outstanding Georgian historian, jurist, diplomat and public benefactor, Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Professor.

He was born in 1876, in Tbilisi, in the family of Georgian Prince David Avalishvili.

In 1900 Avalishvili graduated from the St.Petersburg University (Russia). In 1900-1903 he was a Post-Graduate Student of the Faculty of Law of the University of Paris (Sorbonne), in 1904-1909 Associate Professor of the St.Petersburg University, in 1909-1917 Professor and Head of the Department of Administrative Law of the St.Petersburg Technical Institute .

In 1917-1918 he was a Member of the Senate of Russia.

In 1918-1921 Avalishvili was a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG).

In 1918 he was one of the founders of the Tbilisi State University (TSU), in 1918-1921 Professor of this University.

In 1919 Avalishvili participated in the Paris Conference as a Deputy Head of the Delegation of the Democratic Republic of Georgia.

After occupation of Georgia by the Soviet Russia (February-March, 1921) he was a emigre. He was Professor of the University of Munich (Germany) and one of the leaders of the Georgian Association in Germany. He was a Member of the Editorial Boards of the scientific Journals "Georgica " (London) and "Byzantion" (Brussels).

Main fields of scientific activity of Zurab Avalishvili were: history of Georgia and the Caucasus, history of Georgian literature, International Law, international Relations of the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921), source studies of the history of Georgia and the Caucasus,Rustvelology (study of creative work of the great Georgian poet of the 12th century Shota Rustaveli), history of Georgian diplomacy, etc. He was author of many important scientific articles and monographs.

Zurab Avalishvili died in 1944, in Germany. In 1994 he was re-buried in Tbilisi.

Some of the main works of Zurab Avalishvili

• "Joining of Georgia to Russia" (a monograph), St.Petersburg, 1901, 1906 (in Russian)
• "The Independence of Georgia in the International Politics of 1918-1921" (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1925
• "Questions of "The Knight in the Panther's Skin"" (a monograph), Paris, 1931 (in Georgian)
• "Geschichte Georgiens" (a monograph), Muenchen, 1944 (in German)
• "King Teimuraz I and his work "Martyrdom of Queen Ketevan"" (a monograph), Paris, 1938 (in Georgian)
• "History of the Caucasian Politics" (a monograph).- J. "Kavkaz", Muenchen, No 35-40, 1936-1937 (in Russian)
• "Geographie et legende dans un ecrit apocriphe de Saint Basile".- J. "Revue de l'Orient Christien", 3 serie, Paris, 1927-28, t. 6 (26), No 3-4 (in French)
• "A fifteenth-century Georgian painting in the Metropolitan Museum".- J. "Georgica", London, vol. 1, No 1, 1935
• "The Cross from Overseas".- J. "Georgica", London, Vol. 1, No 2-3, 1936
• "La succession du Curopalate David d'Iberie, Dynastie de Tao".- J. "Byzantion", Bruxells, t. 7, 1933 (in French)

See also

• List of Georgians
• List of historians