The remains of General Giorgi Kvinitadze, Commander-in-Chief of the First Republic of Georgia, has been brought home from France. The official ceremony in honor of the Georgian General was held at Tbilisi International Airport. The ceremony was attended by the President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili, the Minister of Defense of Georgia Juansher Burchuladze, the Commander-in-Chief of the Georgian Defense Forces, Major General Giorgi Matiashvili, the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Kakha Kuchava and members of the General's family.

Representatives of the honor guard were stationed along the red carpet upon the arrival of the general's remains with the flags of the state of Georgia and the First Republic. After the performance of the national anthem, the attendees observed a minute of silence in honor of the memory of General Kvinitadze.

The general's remains will be transferred from the airport to Trinity Cathedral, where civil funeral will be held until May 26. On the Independence Day of Georgia - May 26, General Giorgi Kvinitadze will be interred with military honors in the Mtatsminda Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures.

Giorgi Kvinitadze was born on August 21, 1874. He received military education in Tbilisi and St. Petersburg. Prior to the establishment of the First Republic of Georgia, from the second half of 1917, he actively participated in the formation of the Georgian Armed Forces. He made a great contribution to the establishment of the Georgian Military School in 1919 and served as its first head. From 1918 to 1921 he took an active part in the ongoing hostilities on various fronts. During the Russo-Georgian War of 1921, on February 16, he was reappointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. After the occupation of Georgia by Soviet Russia, General Kvinitadze emigrated with other members of the government and command. He lived in France, where he died in 1970