Georgy Gruzinsky

Prince Georgy Aleksandrovich Gruzinsky (; 2 November 1762 – 15 May 1852) was a Russian nobleman of royal Georgian descent. An influential landowner and official in Nizhny Novgorod, he was known for his authoritarian rule over his estates as well as charity. During Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812, he raised a local militia force to fight the French. Family background Prince Georgy Gruzinsky was born into the family of Alexander Gruzinsky of the House of Mukhrani, claimant to the throne of Georgia, and his wife Daria Menshikova. Georgy was, thus, grandson of Bakar of Kartli and great-grandson of King Vakhtang VI of Kartli on his father's side and great-grandson of the Russian statesman Aleksandr Menshikov on his mother's side. Career Prince Georgy succeeded to the familial domain of Lyskovo on the Volga, which he ruled as a local "tsar". Beyond Lyskovo, Gruzinsky owned estates in the cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow. Lyskovo at that time housed St. Nino's Cross, the principal relic of Georgian Christianity, brought from Ottoman-occupied Georgia for Georgy's grandfather Bakar.