Leo Keresselidze

1885 (age 59)

London, United Kingdom

Early in his twenties, Keresselidze was involved in the Russian Revolution of 1905 and took part in attacks against Russian officials and military as well as in the running of a cargo of guns to the port of Sukhum-Kale. In 1914, at the eve of World War I, the Committee moved to Germany and sought the German aid in restoring the independence of Georgia from Russia. Keresselidze led a military unit of Georgian volunteers, the Georgian Legion, which fought on the German side and was transferred to the Ottoman-Russian Caucasus front. Keresselidze tried to negotiate an alliance with the Ottoman Empire, but refused to accept its suzerainty over a potentially independent Georgia. He was subsequently promoted to major general, but the Legion was disbanded due to his disagreement with the Ottoman government. Keresselidze was then involved in diplomacy between Georgians and Germans, and staging subversions against the Russian troops. After the collapse of the Russian armies in the Caucasus and the proclamation of Georgian independence in May 1918, Keresselidze was able to his own country and helped create national army divisions. The 1921 Red Army invasion of Georgia forced him into exile to Germany where he was among the founding members and a secretary general of the right-leaning nationalist organization Tetri Giorgi. Not long before his death, he helped establish a new political organization of Georgian émigrés, the Union of Georgian Traditionalists. Keresselidze’s revolutionary career is the subject of a fictionalized biography Unending Battle (London, 1934) by the British army officer and writer Harold Courtenay Armstrong (1891-1943).

Leo Keresselidze

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journalist

Education

He subsequently moved to Western Europe and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Geneva.

Career

Early in his twenties, Keresselidze was involved in the Russian Revolution of 1905 and took part in attacks against Russian officials and military as well as in the running of a cargo of guns to the port of Sukhum-Kale. In 1914, at the eve of World War I, the Committee moved to Germany and sought the German aid in restoring the independence of Georgia from Russia. Keresselidze led a military unit of Georgian volunteers, the Georgian Legion, which fought on the German side and was transferred to the Ottoman-Russian Caucasus front.

Keresselidze tried to negotiate an alliance with the Ottoman Empire, but refused to accept its suzerainty over a potentially independent Georgia.

He was subsequently promoted to major general, but the Legion was disbanded due to his disagreement with the Ottoman government. Keresselidze was then involved in diplomacy between Georgians and Germans, and staging subversions against the Russian troops.

After the collapse of the Russian armies in the Caucasus and the proclamation of Georgian independence in May 1918, Keresselidze was able to his own country and helped create national army divisions. The 1921 Red Army invasion of Georgia forced him into exile to Germany where he was among the founding members and a secretary general of the right-leaning nationalist organization Tetri Giorgi.

Not long before his death, he helped establish a new political organization of Georgian émigrés, the Union of Georgian Traditionalists.

Keresselidze’s revolutionary career is the subject of a fictionalized biography Unending Battle (London, 1934) by the British army officer and writer Harold Courtenay Armstrong (1891-1943).

Membership

Committee of Independent Georgia. Georgian Legion (1914-1918). Union of Georgian Traditionalists.

Tetri Giorgi.

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Leo Keresselidze

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