Mikheil Saakashvili
A firebrand reformer who led Georgia's Rose Revolution and sought to violently uproot its post-Soviet corruption, later becoming a stateless political actor.
Born 1967 (age 59)·President of Georgia (2004–2007-2008–2013)·Birthday: December 21·Generation X
Biography
Mikheil Saakashvili's political life reads like a geopolitical thriller. A US-educated lawyer, he burst onto the scene as a young justice minister before channeling public fury over a rigged election into the peaceful Rose Revolution of 2003. At 36, he became Europe's youngest head of state, launching an aggressive, and often controversial, campaign to modernize Georgia. His tenure saw rebuilt infrastructure, a purged traffic police force, and a sharp westward turn that culminated in a brief, disastrous war with Russia in 2008. After his party lost power, he was stripped of his citizenship and embarked on a second act in Ukraine, serving as governor of Odesa before falling out with its leadership. His later years involved hunger strikes, imprisonment, and a complex status as a man without a country, forever embodying the turbulent politics of the post-Soviet space.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Mikheil was born in 1967, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Mikheil Was Born
The biggest hits of 1967
#1 Movie
The Jungle Book
Best Picture
In the Heat of the Night
#1 TV Show
The Andy Griffith Show
Mikheil's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1967Born
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1972Started school
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1980Became a teenager
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1983Could drive
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1985Could vote
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1988Turned 21
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1997Turned 30
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 40
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 50
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 59 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Led the non-violent Rose Revolution in 2003, becoming President of Georgia at age 36.
- Implemented sweeping anti-corruption reforms that radically transformed Georgia's police and civil service.
- Presided over significant economic growth and infrastructure projects that reshaped the capital, Tbilisi.
- Served as the Governor of Ukraine's Odesa Oblast from 2015 to 2016, appointed by President Petro Poroshenko.
Did You Know?
He speaks six languages: Georgian, English, French, Ukrainian, Russian, and Ossetian.
Saakashvili holds a law degree from Columbia University in New York City.
In 2015, he received Ukrainian citizenship and renounced his Georgian citizenship, later becoming stateless.
He once live-streamed his own arrest on social media from a rooftop in Kyiv.
“I am a Ukrainian politician and I will die a Ukrainian politician.”
