Noe Zhordania (Georgian: ნოე ჟორდანია [nɔɛ ʒɔrdɑniɑ]; Russian: Ной Никола́евич Жорда́ния, romanized: Noy Nikoláevich Zhordániya; 15 January [O.S. 3 January] 1868 – January 11, 1953) was a Georgian journalist and Menshevik politician. He played an eminent role in the socialist revolutionary movement in the Russian Empire, and later chaired the government of the Democratic Republic of Georgia from July 24, 1918, until March 18, 1921, when the Bolshevik Russian Red Army invasion of Georgia forced him into exile to France. There Zhordania led the government-in-exile until his death in 1953.
Zhordania was born on 15 January [O.S. 3 January] 1868 to a petty landowner family living in the village of Lanchkhuti in Guria, western Georgia, then part of the Kutais Governorate of Imperial Russia.
According to Redjeb Jordania (born in 1921), son of Noe Jordania (Zhordania), his lineage traces back to three Italian brothers who emigrated from Genoa to Georgia. One of them was a gardener, and the others were merchants. One settled in Mingrelia and became the ancestor of the Zhordanias from Tsaishi (Georgian: ცაიში). Another moved to Arhavi (Georgian: არქაბი), and his descendants became the Zhordanias of Arhavi. The third was granted serfs and estates by the House of Gurieli in Lanchkhuti, and remained in Guria. He was the ancestor of the Zhordanias from Lanchkhuti, including Radjeb (Redjeb) Zhordania, grandfather of Noe Zhordania.
In his early years, Radjeb became an orphan and was taken to Mingrelia by his uncles. Later, he returned to his hometown of Lanchkhuti, but was not welcomed by his relatives. Consequently, he moved to Shukhuti and demanded his share of the family property. He was granted a plot of land, where he built an oda (Georgian: ოდა)—a traditional house typical of the Guria region —married the daughter of Apakidze, and settled there between 1825 and 1830.
Later, he participated in the Crimean War, where he attained the rank of captain and was eventually killed in action. He had four sons: Butchu, Potine, Niko, and Iosef. Niko, the father of Noe and Gulchino Zhordania, was the village scribe, a lawyer, and a court mediator. Kristine Chikovani, Noe's mother, was Mingrelian.
He had his primary education in a Lanchkhuti public school. Afterwards, he graduated from the Ozurgeti Orthodox Theological Academy. He then moved to Tbilisi where he graduated from the Georgian Orthodox Theological Seminary, a prestigious academic institution at the time (just a few years later Josef Stalin would enter that same academy). However, while Noe's parents hoped that their child would become a priest, from an early age he started to disbelieve in God. He wrote:
'God is Nature herself; as for a white-bearded deity, seated upon a throne, such a personage simply does not exist'. 'I thought to myself: If Nature's lord and master is Nature itself, then who is the rightful lord and master of mankind? The general opinion was that the Tsar (King) was the lord over the people, and that the Tsar(King) was himself appointed by God. But if God did not exist any more, the Tsar(King) could not be his representative. I was therefore at a loss to understand by whose command and authority he sat upon his throne.'
In the academy he was the head of an illegal student association that was opposing the drawbacks of the present situation in Academy. At the same time he was reading forbidden books, such as the Russian revolutionary-democratic literature of (Nikolay Chernyshevsky and Alexander Herzen), and familiarized himself with the content of populist literature, magazines and newspapers provided by Zakaria Chichinadze. In 1891 he moved to Warsaw, Poland, and attended the Warsaw Veterinarian Institute. During this period young Zhordania understood the basics of Marxism. In his memories Zhordania described his political evolution in 1892 as a reflection of Russia's transition from socialism to Marxism. Specifically he meant the period after 1891, when he left his homeland to continue his studies abroad. With Filipp Makharadze, Noe Zhordania started a close correspondence with other Georgian intellectuals, namely Silvester Dzhibladze and Egnate Ninoshvili, by sending them illegal Marxist literature. He was impressed by "Mr. L. Tikhomirov's Grief", a booklet written by Georgi Plekhanov. In Warsaw, apart from Marxism, Zhordania also became acquainted with the Polish national movement, which fought for the autonomy of Poland. In 1892, he was forced to leave for Georgia due to Pneumonia.
When he came back to Georgia, he propagated the Marxist ideas among the workers of Tbilisi, and in the 1890s he became a leader of the first legal Marxist organization in Georgia, called the Mesame Dasi (the Third Group). In late December 1892, Noe Zhordania emerged on the political scene. He attended the Marxian meetings at the Aleksandre Pushkin House in Kvirila, and eventually became a member of the first Marxist group. Other famous members were: Nikolay Chkheidze, Eugene Vatsadze, Mikha Tskhakaia, Joseph Kakabadze, Razhden Kaladze, Dmitry Kalandarishvili, Isidore Ramishvili, Arsen Tsitlidze, Isidore Kvitsaridze and Silibistro Jibladze. The group ultimately failed to reach an agreement on certain issues and thus, Noe Zhordania, with Kibladze and Egnate Ninoshvili, were left in charge of creating action program for the group. They outlined importance of the working class in overthrowing the old society, and added the national question in their programme. The programme was adopted and then, in 1894, published in the journal "Moambe". It was based on the following provisions: 1.The person's physical well-being 2. Freedom of the individual and state 3. National identity of the people, based on social label. Later on, the group got the name Mesame Dasi. In May 1893, fearing of possible arrest, Zhordania traveled to Europe from Batumi. When the order of his arrest was released in Lanchkhuti, he was already in Geneva. There he met other Marxist group members: Georgi Plekhanov, Leo Deutsch, and Vera Zasulich. There he read Marxist literature and explored the Swiss workers and peasants' life, writing down and then sending his notes to the journal Kvali (Georgian: კვალი). In 1894, he was tried by the Russian authorities for his participation in the "League of Freedom of Georgia". In 1895, he went to Paris and studied at the Bibliothèque nationale de France for 3 months, became acquainted with Jules Guesde, Paul Lafargue and other French socialists in the meantime. He remained in Paris for four months before going back to Geneva and, from there he headed to Germany, the birthplace of Marxist ideologies. He settled in Stuttgart for two reasons: first, there he met Karl Kautsky, and second, there was not a single Georgian or Russian in Stuttgart who could prevent Zhordania from learning the German language. In order to familiarize himself with the political economy of the bourgeoisie, Zhordania moved to Munich. There he enrolled at the university and followed the course of Professor Franz Brentano. At the beginning of 1896 Zhordania left Munich and traveled to Berlin, where he attended the lectures of Richard Wagner. While living in Germany Zhordania wrote the following articles for "Kvali": "Friedrich Engels" (1895) (Georgian: ფრიდრიხ ენგელსი), "the village and agricultural growing in Germany" (1985) (Georgian: სოფელი და სასოფლო შკოლა გერმანიაში), "Political parties in Germany" (1897) (Georgian: პოლიტიკური პარტიები გერმანიაში), "Bismarck" (1898) (Georgian: ბისმარკი).
In March 1897, Zhordania moved to London, England with Varlam Cherkezishvili, a known photographer, who back then lived with the Wilson family. At the British Museum he studied literature from all around the world, including from Georgia. In 1897 Zordania returned to Georgia. Upon his arrival the country was split into two camps: on one hand, the right-wing ideology headed by Ilia Chavchavadze called "Iberian's camp", and the other left-wing ideology called "Kvali camp". In November 1897, Zhordania organized two consortium, one in Tbilisi and the other in Lanchkhuti. Aiming to buy the journal "Kvali", he would later initiate a dialogue with Anastasya Tumanishvili and Giorgi Tsereteli, the directors of the famous magazine. In January 1898, "Kvali" became one of the first Marxists legal body. It was also the first example in the Russian Empire of the Socialists having a legal organ. The Social Democrats, meanwhile were also illegally stamping brochures, leaflets, and newspapers. In 1899 they released the first printed leaflets called "proclamation", which advised Georgian workers to join the European workers for the first of May. The proclamation was written by Zhordania, and printed by Vlasa Mgeladze. This increased the tensions between the two camps, and in 1900 the magazines of the two parties started to print a heated debate between the each other.