7 Inspiring Facts About France–Georgia Historic Connections 🇫🇷🇬🇪
- mukhrang
- Apr 25
- 2 min read
1.The first visual depiction of the city of Tbilisi belongs to the French traveler Jean Chardin. Born in Paris into a wealthy merchant family, he traveled through Georgia in the 1670s on his way to Persia. He later wrote a remarkable book about his journey from the Black Sea to Tbilisi. Most importantly, he provided the first visual representations of the city at a time when photography did not exist, giving us an idea of how Tbilisi looked in the 17th century. Today, there is even a street in Tbilisi named after him — Sharden Street.
2. The famous French writer Alexandre
Dumas traveled to Georgia in 1858–1859. He entered from Azerbaijan through Lagodekhi, stayed for about two months, and left via Poti. He greatly admired the country and wrote vivid descriptions of its cultural life in his book Caucasus, much of which is devoted to Tbilisi. He especially loved the sulfur baths and visited them frequently, as well as the opera.
3. Roustam Raza, a close associate of Napoleon Bonaparte, was originally from Tbilisi. In addition, Napoleon’s brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, was married to a woman of Georgian origin. ( I am going to write special blog for that later Napoleon and Georgia)
4. France was one of the few countries that supported the First Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918–1921) militarily. French naval forces even bombarded Bolshevik positions advancing from Abkhazia.
5. After the fall of the First Republic
Of Georgia , in March 1921 the (first republic 1918-1921) Georgian government including prime minister Noe Jordania emigrated to France and settled in Leuville-sur-Orge Georgian estate. They though it was temporary and would be able to come back soon but now even their graves are still located there.
6. The 5th President of Georgia, 2018-2025 (first lady president ever )Salome Zourabichvili, was born in France and is a descendant of a minister from the First Republic government. Her family’s dream was to return to Georgia.
7. When Georgia first qualified for the UEFA European Championship, the national football team was coached by the Frenchman Willy Sanol 2024
Mulkhran Guliashvili
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