John Shalikashvili
| John Shalikashvili | |
|---|---|
Shalikashvili in August 1993
|
|
| Birth name | John Malchase David Shalikashvili |
| Nickname(s) | "General Shali" |
| Born |
June 27, 1936 Warsaw, Poland |
| Died | July 23, 2011 (aged 75) Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, U.S. |
| Buried at | Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1958–1997 |
| Rank |
 General
|
| Commands held |
Supreme Allied Commander Europe Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 9th Infantry Division (United States) Operation Provide Comfort |
| Battles/wars | Vietnam War |
| Awards |
Defense Distinguished Service Medal (4) Army Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit (3) Bronze Star Medal (V) Meritorious Service Medal (4) Air Medal Joint Service Commendation Medal Army Commendation Medal Presidential Medal of Freedom |
| Relations | Joan (Zimpelman) Shalikashvili (wife) Brant Shalikashvili (son) Gunhild Bartsch (wife, died 1965) |
| Other work | Visiting professor, Stanford University Director, Frank Russell Trust Company Director, L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. Director, Plug Power Inc. Director, United Defense Industries, Inc. |
John Malchase David Shalikashvili (Georgian: ჯონ მალხაზ დავით შალიკაშვილი, IPA: [ʃalikʼaʃvili]; June 27, 1936 – July 23, 2011) was a United States Army general who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Supreme Allied Commander from 1993 to 1997. He was born in Warsaw, Poland, to Georgian parents. In 1996, he was the first recipient of the Naval War College Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award.
Shalikashvili was the first foreign-born man to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He served in every level of unit command from platoon to division. Shalikashvili died of a stroke in 2011 at the age of 75.
Shalikashvili was a scion of the medieval Georgian noble house of Shalikashvili. His father, Prince Dimitri Shalikashvili (1896–1978), born in Gurjaani, served in the army of Imperial Russia; Dimitri was a grandson of Russian general Dmitry Staroselsky. Shalikashvili's mother was Countess Maria Rüdiger-Beliaev.
After the Bolshevik Revolution, Dimitri became a lieutenant-colonel in the army of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. When the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Georgia in 1921, Dimitri was on diplomatic service in Turkey. Dimitri then joined other Georgian exiles in Poland, where he met and married John's mother, Maria; she was Polish and of part German ancestry, and the daughter of Count Rudiger-Bielajew, a former Tsarist general. They had three children: Othar, John and Gale. Dimitri served in the Polish Army (along with other Georgian exiles) as a contract officer.
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