The Most Famous
MILITARY PERSONNELS from Georgia
This page contains a list of the greatest Georgian Military Personnels. The pantheon dataset contains 1,468 Military Personnels, 8 of which were born in Georgia. This makes Georgia the birth place of the 26th most number of Military Personnels behind Bosnia and Herzegovina and Belarus.
Top 8
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Georgian Military Personnels of all time. This list of famous Georgian Military Personnels is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Yakov Dzhugashvili (1907 - 1943)
With an HPI of 68.81, Yakov Dzhugashvili is the most famous Georgian Military Personnel. His biography has been translated into 38 different languages on wikipedia.
Yakov Iosifovich Dzhugashvili (31 March [O.S. 18 March] 1907 – 14 April 1943) was the eldest son of Joseph Stalin, the only child of Stalin's first wife, Kato Svanidze, who died nine months after his birth. His father, then a young revolutionary in his mid-20s, left the child to be raised by his late wife's family. In 1921, when Dzhugashvili had reached the age of fourteen, he was brought to Moscow, where his father had become a leading figure in the Bolshevik government, eventually becoming head of the Soviet Union. Disregarded by Stalin, Dzhugashvili was a shy, quiet child who appeared unhappy and attempted suicide several times as a youth. Married twice, Dzhugashvili had three children, two of whom reached adulthood. Dzhugashvili studied to become an engineer, then – on his father's insistence – he enrolled in training to be an artillery officer. He finished his studies weeks before Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. Sent to the front, he was imprisoned by the Germans and died at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1943 after his father refused to make a deal to secure his release.
2. Pyotr Bagration (1765 - 1812)
With an HPI of 67.36, Pyotr Bagration is the 2nd most famous Georgian Military Personnel. His biography has been translated into 45 different languages.
Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration (10 July 1765 – 24 September 1812) was a Russian general and prince of Georgian origin, prominent during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Bagration, a member of the Bagrationi dynasty, was born in Kizlyar. His father, Ivan (Ivane), served as an officer in the Imperial Russian Army, in which Bagration also enlisted in 1782. Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration began his military career serving in the Russo-Circassian War of 1763–1864 for a couple of years. Afterwards he participated in a war against the Ottomans and the capture of Ochakov in 1788. Later he helped suppress the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794 in Poland and capture Warsaw. During Russia's Italian and Swiss campaigns of 1799 against the French, he served with distinction under Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov. In 1805 Russia joined the coalition against Napoleon. After the collapse of the Austrians at Ulm in October 1805, Bagration won praise for his successful defense in the Battle of Schöngrabern (November 1805) that allowed Russian forces to withdraw and unite with the main Russian army of Mikhail Kutuzov. In December 1805 the combined Russo-Austrian army suffered defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz, where Bagration commanded the allied right wing against the French under Jean Lannes. Later he commanded Russian troops in the Finnish War (1808–1809) against Sweden and in another war against the Turks (1806–1812) on the Danube. During the French invasion of Russia in 1812, Bagration commanded one of two large Russian armies (Barclay de Tolly commanded the other) fighting a series of rear-guard actions. The Russians failed to stop the French advance at the Battle of Smolensk in August 1812. Barclay had proposed a scorched-earth retreat that the Emperor Alexander I of Russia had approved, although Bagration preferred to confront the French in a major battle. Mikhail Kutuzov succeeded Barclay as Commander-in-Chief but continued his policy until the Battle of Borodino (7 September [O.S. 26 August] 1812) near Moscow. Bagration commanded the left wing around what became known as the Bagration flèches at Borodino, where he was mortally wounded; he died a couple of weeks later. Originally buried at a local church, in 1839 he was reburied on the battlefield of Borodino.
3. Aleksei Brusilov (1853 - 1926)
With an HPI of 66.73, Aleksei Brusilov is the 3rd most famous Georgian Military Personnel. His biography has been translated into 51 different languages.
Aleksei Alekseyevich Brusilov (Russian: Алексей Алексеевич Брусилов, IPA: [ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ brʊˈsʲiɫəf]; 31 August [O.S. 19 August] 1853 – 17 March 1926) was a Russian and later Soviet general most noted for the development of new offensive tactics used in the 1916 Brusilov offensive, which was his greatest achievement. Born into an aristocratic military family, Brusilov trained as a cavalry officer, but by 1914 had realized that cavalry was obsolete against modern weapons of warfare such as machine gun and artillery. Historians portray him as the only First World War Russian general capable of winning major battles; his offensive strategy helped eliminate the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an independent fighting force. However, his victories resulted in heavy casualties that seriously weakened the Russian army, which was unable to replace its losses. Despite his noble status and prominent role in the Imperial Russian Army, he sided with the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War and aided in the early organization of the Red Army until retiring in 1924. Brusilov is one of the prominent Russian commanders in history, although not regarded as especially brilliant, he was pragmatic and open to change based on experience; his eponymous offensive succeeded in part from his willingness to properly train and prepare his troops, including in modern artillery and air reconnaissance.
4. Meliton Kantaria (1920 - 1993)
With an HPI of 57.45, Meliton Kantaria is the 4th most famous Georgian Military Personnel. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.
Meliton Varlamis dze Kantaria or Kantariya (Georgian: მელიტონ ქანთარია, Russian: Мелитон Варламович Кантария; 5 October 1920 – 27 December 1993) was a Georgian sergeant of the Soviet Army credited with having hoisted a Soviet flag over the Reichstag on 1 May 1945, together with Mikhail Yegorov and Aleksey Berest.
5. Roustam Raza (1783 - 1845)
With an HPI of 56.60, Roustam Raza is the 5th most famous Georgian Military Personnel. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Roustam Raza (Armenian: Ռուստամ Ռուզա, Georgian: რუსტამ რაზა; 1783 – 7 December 1845), also known as Roustan or Rustam, was a mamluk bodyguard and secondary valet of Napoleon.
6. Kakutsa Cholokashvili (1888 - 1930)
With an HPI of 49.71, Kakutsa Cholokashvili is the 6th most famous Georgian Military Personnel. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Kaikhosro "Kakutsa" Cholokashvili (Georgian: ქაიხოსრო [ქაქუცა] ჩოლოყაშვილი; French: Kakoutsa Tcholokachvili; Russian: Кайхосро [Какуца] Чолокашвили [Челокаев], Kaikhosro Chelokayev; born 14 July 1888 – 27 June 1930) was a Georgian military officer and a commander of an anti-Soviet guerrilla movement in Georgia. He is regarded as a national hero in Georgia. Born of a noble family, Cholokashvili was a decorated officer of the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he served in the ranks of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Following the republic's overthrow in a Soviet invasion in 1921, Cholokashvili, with a band of followers, took to the mountains and fought a guerrilla campaign against the Soviet government in the province of Kakheti. After a failed August 1924 anti-Soviet rebellion, during which Cholokashvili commanded the largest single rebel contingent, he fled to France, where he died of tuberculosis in 1930. His remains were reburied, in a state funeral, from the Leuville Cemetery near Paris to the Mtatsminda Pantheon in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2005. In 2013, he was posthumously awarded the title and Order of National Hero of Georgia.
7. Abu Omar al-Shishani (1986 - 2016)
With an HPI of 42.69, Abu Omar al-Shishani is the 7th most famous Georgian Military Personnel. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.
Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili (Georgian: თარხან ბათირაშვილი; 11 January 1986 – 10 July 2016), known by his nom de guerre Abu Omar al-Shishani (Arabic: أَبُو عُمَرَ ٱلشِّيشَانِيِّ, romanized: ʾAbū ʿUmar aš-Šīšānī) or Omar al-Shishani, was a Georgian-Chechen jihadist who served as a commander for the Islamic State, and was previously a sergeant in the Georgian Army. A veteran of the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, Batirashvili became a jihadist after being discharged from the Georgian military and served in various command positions with Islamist militant groups fighting in the Syrian Civil War. He became the leader of the Muhajireen Brigade (Emigrants Brigade), and its successor, Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (Army of Emigrants and Supporters). In 2013, Batirashvili joined the Islamic State and rapidly became a senior commander in the organization, directing a series of battles and ultimately earning a seat on ISIL's shura council. The US Treasury Department added Batirashvili to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on 24 September 2014, and seven months later the US government announced a reward up to US$5 million for information leading to his capture. There were several reports of his death throughout 2015 and 2016. ISIL announced that he was killed in combat in the Iraqi city of Al-Shirqat, south of Mosul while the Pentagon said that Shishani had likely been killed in U.S coalition air strikes in Syria, but could not confirm or deny it.
8. Zaza Gogava (1971 - )
With an HPI of 40.48, Zaza Gogava is the 8th most famous Georgian Military Personnel. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Zaza Gogava (Georgian: ზაზა გოგავა; born July 14, 1971) is a Georgian Major General. He served as a Chief of Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Georgia from November 2006 to November 2008 and the chief of Border Police from November 2008 to July 2012. Gogava served his compulsory military service in the Soviet Army motorized rifle units from 1989 to 1990. He was one of the first batch of Georgian conscripts to defect from the Soviet forces. He graduated from the Tbilisi State Technical University in 1994 and began his career in the special task group "Omega" within Georgia's security services in 1995. He has since served in various counter-terrorist units and special forces subdivisions, and was further trained in the United States between 1995 and 2002. Gogava was placed in command of the Counter-terrorism Division of Special Operations Center in 2003 and the élite Police Special Tasks Division named after General G. Gulua in 2004. He was appointed Commander of Georgian Special Operations Forces of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia in 2004 and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Georgia in 2006. After the reshuffle within the Ministry of Defense in November 2006, Gogava became the Chief of Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Georgia. Gogava was later appointed as chief of Border Police, replacing Badri Bitsadze, who had earlier announced his resignation. Gogava served in this position until the reshuffle in the Interior Ministry top brass in July 2012.
Pantheon has 8 people classified as military personnels born between 1765 and 1986. Of these 8, 1 (12.50%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living military personnels include Zaza Gogava. The most famous deceased military personnels include Yakov Dzhugashvili, Pyotr Bagration, and Aleksei Brusilov. As of April 2022, 2 new military personnels have been added to Pantheon including Roustam Raza and Kakutsa Cholokashvili.
Living Military Personnels
Go to all RankingsDeceased Military Personnels
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Yakov Dzhugashvili
1907 - 1943
HPI: 68.81
Pyotr Bagration
1765 - 1812
HPI: 67.36
Aleksei Brusilov
1853 - 1926
HPI: 66.73
Meliton Kantaria
1920 - 1993
HPI: 57.45
Roustam Raza
1783 - 1845
HPI: 56.60
Kakutsa Cholokashvili
1888 - 1930
HPI: 49.71
Abu Omar al-Shishani
1986 - 2016
HPI: 42.69
Newly Added Military Personnels (2022)
Go to all RankingsWhich Military Personnels were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 7 most globally memorable Military Personnels since 1700.
