In 1989 at the start of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict the late Academician Andrei Sakharov in one of his last articles called Georgia a ‘mini-empire’ (Ogonёk 1989, 31).

Later, describing the relationship between Abkhazia and Georgia, he wrote: "I tend to justify the Abkhazian position. I think we should regard with special attention the problems of small peoples: freedom and rights of big nations should not be exercised at the expense of small ones" (Znamya, 1991, No.10, p.69).

Joseph de Baye (1853-1931), French archaeologist and traveller. Baron Joseph de Baye (French) was initially a keen amateur archaeologist. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Ministry of Public Instruction sent him on a mission to collect pottery in the Russian Empire. He gave public lectures in Paris on his return and furthered knowledge of Russia's archaeological and ethnographic treasures through his publications - gathered under the title "Souvenirs d'une mission en Abkhasie, en Crimée, en Géorgie, en Lituanie, en Nouvelle Flussie, en Petite Russie", and by presenting the collections he brought back at the Musée Guimet, and building up an exceptional collection of photographs.

Astanda Ardzinba

Jean-Marc Danto from the city of Saint Nazaire in France came to Abkhazia in 1997 to build schools as part of a humanitarian mission of an international organisation; however, circumstances developed in such a way that the French engineer remained forever in the republic, where he founded a successful business.

Ensemble "Apsny-67" was created in 1967 as an amateur ensemble at the Palace of Culture of Trade Union Workers, located opposite the Park of Glory in Sukhum. The director of the Palace of Culture, Shamil Vardania, took the ensemble under his tutelage, providing them with performances not only at sites in Abkhazia, but also in the USSR, including in various programmes on Central Television.

How Easily One Forgets...

Contrast the following with the widely held misconception that Abkhazia's problem with Georgia resulted from its being a mere puppet of the Kremlin's 'anti-Georgian' politics?

Most of the 1990s, especially when Shevardnadze-protegé Andrei Kozyrev served as Boris Yeltsin's Foreign Minister, Russia's policy was by NO means pro-Abkhazian, a CIS-blockade being imposed along Abkhazia's River Psou border with Russia. Boris Yeltsin, together with Georgia, put Abkhazia under sanctions.