David Dadiani

David Dadiani (; 23 January 1813 – 30 August 1853), of the House of Dadiani, was Prince of Mingrelia, in western Georgia, from 1846 until his death in 1853. A son of Levan V Dadiani, he became de facto ruler of Mingrelia on his father's retirement in 1840. Like his father, David ruled as an autonomous subject under the protection of the Russian Empire and concurrently held the position of a major-general of the Russian army. David presided over the frequently heavy-handed efforts to modernize Mingrelia's government, economy, and education. The Russian authorities, citing the Mingrelians' discontent with Dadiani's harsh measures, attempted, but failed to bribe him into resigning his office. David died of malaria at the age of 40.

Early life and career David Dadiani was born in the village of Chkaduashi near Zugdidi, Mingrelia's capital into the family of the prince-regnant Levan V Dadiani and his wife, Princess Marta, née Tsereteli. As an adolescent, David was sent to Tiflis to be educated under the guidance of the Russian generals Vasili Bebutov and Georg Andreas von Rosen. He was commissioned as a cornet in the Life Guards Cossack regiment in 1829.

Reforms in Mingrelia

Once in government, David embarked on a series of reforms to modernize his principality's administration and economy. He substituted hereditary governors of Mingrelia's districts with appointed officials, removed the court from the high nobility's control and appointed 12 independent lawyers as the final arbiters of justice. He, further, emancipated the lower strata of the clergy from serfdom and, at the same time, placed Mingrelia's chief prelate, the archbishop of Chqondidi, under his authority.

Family

David, while still a child, had been betrothed to Darejan, daughter of the Svan prince Tsiok Dadeshkeliani, but, in 1835, David repudiated her and arranged Darejan's marriage to the Kakhetian nobleman David Abkhazi, granting her former fiancée a pension of 150 chervonets. In 1839, David married Princess Ekaterine, a daughter of the poet and general Alexander Chavchavadze. The wedding was celebrated at the Kashveti Church in Tiflis on 15 May 1839. He was succeeded by his six-year-old son, Niko, whose regency was assumed by David's widow Ekaterine Chavchavadze.