Princess Elene of Georgia

Elene (Georgian: ელენე; 1753 – 17 June 1786) was a Georgian princess royal (batonishvili), a daughter of Heraclius II, King of Kartli and Kakheti. She was the mother of Solomon II of Imereti, the last king to have reigned in the Georgian polities.

Biography

Elene was born in 1753 as the eldest surviving child of Heraclius II and his third wife Darejan Dadiani. The young princess had a love affair with Prince Zakaria Andronikashvili (1740–1802), a respected soldier, who was 13 years older. Opposing the union, King Heraclius forced Andronikashvili into retirement to the Russian Empire and in 1770 married Elene off to Archil, a younger brother of King Solomon I of Imereti. Archil died on 6 October 1775, leaving one son and two daughters behind. Heraclius, watching his daughter plunging in depression, allowed her to wed, in 1785, the love of her youth, Zakaria Andronikashvili. Elene died on 17 June 1786 soon after she gave birth to a daughter, Khoreshan.^[1][2][3]

Children and descendants

Elene had three children of her first marriage to Prince Archil of Imereti, one son and two daughters. Their son, David (born 1772), went on to become king of Imereti under the name of Solomon II with the help of his grandfather Heraclius II and stepfather Prince Andronikashvili in 1789.^[3] The elder daughter, Barbare (born 1771), would marry Prince David Tsulukidze and end her days in exile in Russia after the Russian conquest of Imereti in 1810. The younger daughter, Mariam (Maia; 1775–1861), was married twice, first to Prince Levan Dadiani (1774–1847) and then to Prince Malkhaz Andronikashvili (1773–1822), becoming mother of General Ivane Andronikashvili of the Crimean War fame.^[1]

Elene's daughter of the second marriage, Khoreshan (1786–1833), married in 1800 Prince Zurab (Dimitri) Orbeliani (1766–1827). This union produced five children, among them the poet and general Grigol Orbeliani (1804–1883), General Ilia Orbeliani (1815–1853), Colonel Zakaria Orbeliani (1806–1847) and Ephemia (1801–1849), mother of the popular Romanticist poet Nikoloz Baratashvili (1817–1845).^[1]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Princess Elene of Georgia

16. David of Kakheti               8. Heraclius I of Kakheti                       17. Elene Diasamidze               4. Teimuraz II of Georgia                             18. Shermazan Cholokashvili               9. Ana Cholokashvili                       2. Heraclius II of Georgia                                   20. Levan of Kartli               10. Vakhtang VI of Kartli                       21. Tuta Gurieli               5. Tamar of Kartli                             22. Kelchiko of Kabarda               11. Rusudan of Kabarda                       1. Elene                                         24. Giorgi Lipartiani               12. Bezhan I Dadiani                       25. Sevdia Mikeladze               6. Katsia-Giorgi Dadiani                             26. Gelovani               13. Tamar Gelovani                       3. Darejan Dadiani

References

1. Dumin, S.V., ed. (1996). Дворянские роды Российской империи. Том 3. Князья [Noble families of the Russian Empire. Volume 3: Princes] (in Russian). Moscow: Linkominvest. p. 71.
2. Montgomery, Hugh, ed. (1980). Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume 2. London: Burke's Peerage. p. 67. ISBN 0850110297.
3. Tukhashvili, Lovard (1975). "ზაქარია ანდრონიკაშვილი [Zakaria Andronikashvili]" [Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia]. ქართული საბჭოთა ენცილოპედია (in Georgian) 1. Tbilisi. p. 450.