Vakhtang Orbeliani
Prince Vakhtang Orbeliani (1812–1890) was a Georgian Romantic poet and a soldier in the Russian Imperial service, from the noble House of Orbeliani. He was born in Tiflis (Tbilisi) to Prince Vakhtang Orbeliani and Princess Tekle, who was the daughter of the Georgian king Erekle II. He was the brother of Alexander Orbeliani and the cousin of Grigol Orbeliani, both fellow Romantic poets.
Vakhtang studied at the Tiflis nobility school and joined the St. Petersburg Page Corps, but he did not graduate and returned home to lead a failed coup against Russian rule in 1832. The conspirators planned to invite Russian officials to a grand ball and give them the choice of death or surrender. After the plot collapsed, Vakhtang was arrested, sentenced to death, but was reprieved and exiled to Kaluga.
The uprising’s failure pushed many conspirators to accept Russian autocracy, turning their lament for the lost independent past into Romantic poetry. In 1838, Orbeliani joined the Russian military, serving in the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment. Much of his career was spent in the Caucasus War, fighting against rebellious mountain tribes. He led the Georgian Grenadier Regiment in 1855 and was promoted to major general in 1860.
From 1858 to 1863 he held various administrative and military roles in the North Caucasus, including leadership in Kabarda and Terek. Later, he served on the peasants’ council and worked as an arbitrator. Like his elder brother Alexander, his poetry often laments the loss of the Georgian monarchy and seeks solace in Christian patience. His poetry also features the sacred symbol of the Grapevine Cross of St. Nino.
Vakhtang Orbeliani is buried in the western corner of Tbilisi’s Sioni Cathedral.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 01:29 (CET).