Ana Kalanda

From Adonia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
President
Ana Kalanda
Seal of Varkana.png
24th President of Varkana
In office
30 January 1882 – 17 January 1895
Preceded by Noe Lekishvili
Succeeded by Tamaz Chiladze
Personal details
Born Ana Kalanda
17 June 1854
Moldava, Varkana
Died 12 April 1905 (aged 50)
Moldava, Varkana
Political party Communist Party
Residence Klow
Religion Armazism

Ana Kalanda (Kartvelian: ანა კალანდა; 17 June 1854 - 12 April 1905) was a Varkan Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and revolutionary leader, and the 24th President of Varkana and the first of the Second Republic from 30 January 1882 to 17 January 1895. She led Varkan communists to overthrow the First Republic in January 1882 in what became known as the January Revolution.

Recognised as one of the most significant and influential historical figures of the late 19th century, Kalanda remains a controversial and highly divisive Adonian figure. Admirers view her as a champion of working people's rights and welfare whilst critics see her as a dictator whose regime carried out mass human rights abuses. She was held in high esteem as the founding mother of the Second Republic of Varkana, the first modern communist state, until its collapse in 1943, and remains a key influence over the international communist movement.

Early life[edit | edit source]

Revolutionary activity[edit | edit source]

Kalanda's Government[edit | edit source]

Establishing the Second Republic: 1882-1883[edit | edit source]

1st Convocation: 1883-1886[edit | edit source]

2nd Convocation: 1886-1889[edit | edit source]

3rd Convocation: 1889-1892[edit | edit source]

4th Convocation: 1892-1895[edit | edit source]

Political ideology[edit | edit source]

Personal life and characteristics[edit | edit source]

Ana Kalanda never married, although she had several lovers; the reasons for this are not clear. Historians have speculated that she knew herself to be infertile. There is also a widely popular belief in Varkana that her good friend Juls Dadiani was at one point her lover. Historian Luka Razikashvili noted that she exhibited a great deal of charisma and personal magnetism, and that she had "total commitment to the revolutionary cause." Aside from Kartvelian, Kalanda spoke and read "German" and Aetolian.

Concerned with her health, she enjoyed cycling, swimming, and watching rugby. She also developed a passion for mountain walking in the fjords near Klow. In personal dealings with others, she was modest, and for this reason disliked the cult of personality that the Communist Party had begun to build around her; she nevertheless accepted that it might have some benefits in unifying the movement. Throughout her life, she always preferred reading in seclusion to attending social engagements, and several times had to be pressured by others to remain in public service.

Decline and death[edit | edit source]

Ana Kalanda in March 1905, a few weeks before her death; she is seen here greeting a Varkan soldier and his daughter in Senaki

The Varkan government publicly announced Kalanda's death the day after she passed away, with President Sofiko Chiaureli tearfully reading an official statement to delegates of the Parliament at noon. On 14 April, mourners from the Communist Party Central Committee, the Klow party organization, the trade unions and the communes began to assemble at her house, with the body being removed from her home at about 9 AM the following day, being carried aloft in the Varkan flag. Transported by horse to the Presidential Palace in Klow from her familial home in Moldava, hundred of thousands of mourners gathered on the road along the way.

As per Varkan custom, her body was buried in the gardens of the Presidential Palace in the Varkan flag. Several prominent Varkans paid their respects during the burial to the deceased leader, with speeches being made by Chiaureli and Chiladze. The cause of death was, according to her doctors, a major stroke.

Legacy[edit | edit source]

After her death, and especially during the Gotua years, the Communist Party advanced in propaganda describing Kalanda as "the mother of the [communist] revolution" and of a "celibate married only to the cause of revolution."

Kalanda's image spread largely and quickly in the Varkan proletariat and elsewhere, notably due to her reputed beauty. Starting during Shota Rustaveli's difficult presidency, a cult of personality was created around Kalanda and greatly expanded with the presidency of Levan Gotua, almost treating her as a goddess. Paintings and busts of her were arranged in almost all public buildings and they used her name to name public buildings, railway stations, metro stations, schools, etc. Even after the Second Republic, the Constitution of the Third Republic stipulated that the inauguration of the President of Varkana would be held on 12 April to commemorate Kalanda's death as the Armazist return with a new President. It is a custom that still prevails in the Fourth Republic despite not being law.

In 1992, historian Hildegard Pursalidze wrote The Reluctant Leader, a biography of Kalanda. Unlike previous portrayals of Kalanda as a one-dimensional fairy tale princess, Pursalidze portrayed her as a depressed, unhappy woman full of self-loathing and various mental disorders. She was seen to have searched for happiness, but died a lonely woman who never found it. Pursalidze's portrayal explored new facets of the legend of Ana Kalanda, that were heavily criticized by prominent figures in Varkana.

Kalanda features on the 10 lari banknote, as well as being the subject of many socialist and communist songs, including the "Russian" socialist song smuglyanka.