Jorge de Bagration

Jorge de Bagration y de Mukhrani or Giorgi Bagration-Mukhraneli or George Bagration of Mukhrani (; 22 February 1944 – 16 January 2008) was a Spanish racing car driver of Georgian descent and a claimant to the headship of the Bagrationi dynasty and to the historical throne of Georgia. Early life Jorge was born in Rome, Italy in 1944, the eldest son of émigré Prince Irakli Bagration-Mukhrani, head of the Mukhraneli branch of the Bagration royal family of Georgia. His father, Prince Irakli Bagration-Mukhrani, had gone into exile in Italy following the Bolshevik Revolution, but retained his claim to the throne of Georgia. His Italian mother, Maria Antonietta Pasquini (1911–1944), daughter of Ugo, Count di Costafiorita, died giving birth to him. In 1946, the widowed Prince Irakli married Princess María de las Mercedes de Baviera y Borbón (1911–1953), daughter of Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria (who had been naturalised as a Spanish infante) and granddaughter of King Alfonso XII of Spain, thus bringing the Bagrationis into the marital and social orbit of the dynasties of Western Europe. Giorgi's cousin, Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia is, like him, a royal pretender. Racing career He started his motor sport career in 1959, firstly with motorcycles and from 1963 in cars, racing in various series. He made two attempts at Formula One, firstly at the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix with a Lola, but his entry was refused.