Valiko Jugheli

Vladimir “Valiko” Jugheli ( _ka. ვალიკო ჯუღელი) (January 1, 1887 -January 9, 1924) was a Georgian politician and military commander.

He was involved in the Marxist movement in Georgia (then part of Imperial Russia) at the beginning of the 20th century. After the split within the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, to which he was a member, Jugheli sided with the Bolsheviks, but later defected to the Menshevik faction and became its influential member. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he organized the Red Guard detachment which was later renamed into the People’s Guard of Georgia. On November 29, 1917, he successfully commanded a famous raid on the Tiflis military arsenal guarded by the pro-Bolshevik Russian soldiers. In May 1918, he was reluctant to support the proclamation of Georgia’s independence, but still retained his post. As a commander of the People’s Guard, he was commonly assigned to retain an internal order in the country. During his tenure, he gained a reputation of a ruthless suppressor of agrarian disturbances in various regions of Georgia.

In March 1921, the Soviet invasion of Georgia forced him into exile. He returned in 1924 to take part in the preparations for the anti-Soviet rebellion in Georgia. He was soon arrested, however, and executed by the Soviet Cheka.