“I have seen the new world to come.” Reflections on the late JT Gumede’s visit to Georgia in 1927.
JT Gumede, 4th from left, with Georgian peasants.
by Raymond van Diemel
For too long Georgian aggression towards its weaker neighbouring states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has been overlook. Only a handful of journalists recognized the true nature of the current Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, namely hostile and anti Russian sentiments. More importantly, responsibility for the August war in South Ossetia should at best be laid at the feet of both Georgia and Russia. Only these two powers hold the key to a peaceful settlement in the region.
Bafana, Bafana, the South African national soccer team played a match in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, a few years back. Few of the soccer players knew that back in 1927, a fellow South African and the newly elected ANC leader, Josiah Tshangana Gumede, had also been a prominent political guest of the Georgians. Moreover, the person who encouraged Gumede to visit Georgia was no one other than Joseph Stalin, the Georgian born Russian leader.
Historian Alex De Jonge, claimed that Stalin’s mother, Ekaterina (“Keke”) Geladze, was an Osette, born in South Ossetia. The Ossetes were an isolated mountain tribe that lacks the exuberances of other Georgians. The daughter of poor peasants, Keke has moved to the Georgian country town of Gori to become a maidservant to an Armenian or Russia Middle class family. A.F. Plate, later Professor in Chemistry at Moscow State University, was appointed to accompany Gumede as an interpreter. Before embarking on their trip by rail to Tiflis, the capital that is presently known as Tbilisi, Gumede purchased a fur cap and coat. “The weather was rather unusual for the South African”, claimed Plate. The journey to Georgia was long. Gumede asked about the many places they were passing on their route. Gumede’s was fascinated by the history of the Georgian Soviet Republic, founded in February 1921. Since March 1922 the republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia formed the Trans-Caucasian Federation. Georgians formed two‑thirds of the Georgian population. The rest were the Russians, Abkhazians, Armenians, Azerbaijanians and many other nationalities. Although the Georgians were the majority in their republic, there were more Armenians than Georgians living the capital of Georgia (Tiflis). During the time of Tsarist Russia the discrimination with regard to privileges and inequalities between the ruling and subject races led to bloody wars, especially between the Armenians and Georgians. Gumede was informed that the Russian Revolution ended those discriminatory practices, brought about a classless society with no trace of the former privileges and signaled the end of those bloody wars. Since the Russian Revolution, the Georgian Republic had become a wealthy region. Gumede was desperate to learn about this socio-political and economic transformation.
In Tiflis Gumede was given accommodation by the State in a fine hotel. He was struck by the Georgians’ hospitality. Foreign visitors claimed that the Georgians had lost little of their national character.
In outward appearance, the men and women are comely and black of brow and hair, their complexion is white and rosy. They are brave and hard working with great powers of endurance, bold cavaliers and eager for a fray. They are doughty warriors, lovers of arms. They are hospitable to guests and strangers. They change rapidly from a good mood to a bad one; are headstrong, ambitious and apt both to flatter and to take offence.
In Tiflis Gumede had various conversations with Georgian leaders and peasants. One of these meetings was held in the “House of the Peasant”. Plate recalled that Gumede had asked the peasants about their way of life in detail. Gumede was curious to see “how this folk lived in comparison with his own people”. He also visited a number of Georgian villages to acquaint himself with the Georgian peasantry’s way of life. Plate claimed that the Georgians’ way of life differed from that of mid‑Russian peasants:
In the Russian villages the lands of lords were also confiscated, the land belonged to the State and it was distributed among peasants taking into consideration the number of the members of their families.
The Georgian lesson was not lost on Gumede. Such was the political significance of his visit to Georgia in 1927 that Gumede embraced the communism doctrine. Back in his native land, Gumede used every platform to proclaim: “The native has been a communist from time immemorial. As to the extent that he was influenced by the freedom struggle of the Georgian people, Gumede responded in a striking manner:
I have seen the new world to come, where it has already begun. I have been to the new Jerusalem. I have brought the key which would unlock the door to freedom.
Over the years Gumede’s famous quotation has been captured by many historians but its meaning is not always adequately explained. It is best to start with Plate’s observation about Gumede’s appraisal of the Russian Revolution:
Gumede considered one of the greatest achievements of our country that the Socialist Revolution managed to unite the people of different nationalities in their struggle for common ideals. He emphasised the significance of this experience for all nations struggling for their independence and considered that success in this struggle would highly depend on the unity of actions of all forces fighting against racism and colonialism.
Gumede and Stalin are both long gone. And so are their respective political dreams. Stalin’s legacy is that of one who launched the purges of Great Terror, who by 1939 claimed the lives of over 12 million Soviet citizens. JT Gumede’s legacy is that of the President who steered the ANC into a more radical direction and forged closer ties with the South African Communist Party.
Dr Raymond van Diemel is South Africa Historian. He can be contacted at vandiemeljohn@hotmail.com.
September 3, 2008
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