Andria Dadiani
Prince of Mingrelia
Prince Andria Dadiani (1850–1910), known in Russia as Andrey Davidovich Dadian-Mingrelsky, was a Georgian nobleman and a chess player. A member of a Mingrelian (Western Georgia) princely family, son of prince David Dadiani and his wife princess Ekaterine Chavchavadze, Andria Dadiani was born in Zugdidi, W. Georgia. He graduated from Heidelberg University Faculty of Law in 1873. Later, he served as a lieutenant-general of the Russian army. In 1887, his brother Niko Dadiani was nominated by Tsar Alexander III as a candidate for the vacant princely throne of Bulgaria after Alexander of Battenberg had been forced to abdicate in September 1886. The Russian nominee was rejected by the Grand Assembly of Bulgaria, and the crown eventually went to the German prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in July 1887.
The National Guards Unit of Bulgaria is the successor of the Personal Cavalry Convoy (squadron) of knyaz Alexander I, founded in 1879, when on July 12 the guards escorted the Bulgarian knyaz for the first time. Accordingly, 12 July is the official holiday of the modern National Guard Unit. On August 30, 1881, after the presentation of the first official battle flags in Bulgarian history, the Guards performed a ceremonial march in front of the prince. Immediately after the proclamation of the unification of Bulgaria with Eastern Rumelia, the guards arrived in Plovdiv.
The House of Dadiani, later known as the House of Dadiani-Chikovani, was a Georgian family of nobles, dukes and princes, and a ruling dynasty of the western Georgian province of Mingrelia. The first data about the family dates back to 1046 AD. Presumably, the Dadiani descended from a certain Dadi, of the House of Vardanisdze. Appointed as hereditary eristavi (dukes) of Odishi (Samegrelo) in reward for their military services, the family had become the most powerful feudal house in western Georgia by the 1280's. At that time, the branches of the family governed also Svaneti, Guria, and Bedia. In 1542 AD, Duke Levan I Dadiani became hereditary Prince (mtavari) of Mingrelia and established himself as an independent ruler. His descendant Prince Levan III Dadiani was forced to abdicate in 1691 AD and Dadiani’s relatives from the House of Chikovani, hitherto Princes of Salipartiano, inherited the title of Princes of Mingrelia and the surname of Dadiani. The original dynasty of Dadiani thus went extinct into what genealogists have termed the House of Dadiani-Chikovani. Accepting Russian sovereignty in 1802, the Dadiani were elevated to the dignity of
Prince of the Russian Empire and enjoyed significant independence in their home affairs. Russia made a de facto annexation of Samegrelo in 1857, but Samegrelo remained nominally in existence until January 4, 1867, when Niko Dadiani, the last Prince of Samegrelo, was deposed and the principality was abolished. Prince Niko Dadiani officially renounced his rights to the throne in 1868.
Awards: Sash and collar of the Royal Order of Saint Alexander, Stars of the Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir, the Imperial Order of Saint Stanislaus and the Imperial Order of Saint Anna.
