Giorgi Marghvilashvili

Giorgi Margvelashvili (; born 4 September 1969) is a Georgian academic and politician who was the fourth President of Georgia, in office from 17 November 2013 to 16 December 2018. Having studied philosophy in university, he was twice the rector of the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs from 2000 to 2006 and again from 2010 to 2012. In October 2012, he became a member of the newly formed cabinet of Bidzina Ivanishvili as Minister of Education and Science of Georgia. In February 2013, he was additionally appointed as First Deputy Prime Minister. Margvelashvili was named by the Ivanishvili-led Georgian Dream coalition as its presidential candidate in May 2013 and he won the October 2013 presidential election with 62% of votes. With Margvelashvili's election, a new constitution came into effect, significantly curtailing the president's powers in favor of the Prime Minister and the Parliament. Shortly thereafter, Margvelashvili's relations with Ivanishvili and the ruling Georgian Dream party leadership soured to the point of a full split. During his tenure, Margvelashvili tried to be a voice of moderation and was critical of the Georgian Dream's consolidation of power. He was the first president in Georgia's history not to seek reelection for a second term. Education and academic career Giorgi Margvelashvili was born in Tbilisi in the family of Teimuraz Margvelashvili (born 1938), an engineer, and Mzeana Gomelauri (born 1933), a psychologist. Margvelashvili graduated from the Tbilisi State University in 1992 with a degree in philosophy. He continued his post-graduate education at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary (1993–1994) and the Institute of Philosophy, Georgian Academy of Sciences (1993–1996). In 1998, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the Tbilisi State University. Early in the 1990s he worked as a mountain guide at the Caucasus Travel agency.