Mevlud Meladze

Family and early life

His father, Vaja Meladze, also known by the pen name Chordeli, is a known Georgian writer and editor of Amer-Imeri literary magazine. His mother, Siranush Bartaia, is a school-teacher and philologist. As a youth, he studied art under one of the city's leading painters Tite Shekiladze (Georgian: ტიტე შეყილაძე) and improved himself a lot.

In the age of 10, being inspired by his father, Meladze began sambo in “Tuno” sportsclub, where Shota Khabareli and other famous Georgian fighters were practised.

When studying secondary school he also became interested in Aeromodelling and RC cars building. From 1989 till 1993 he was attended Tbilisi State University, where he graduated with a degree in economics.

Martial arts career

Meladze was qualified for the professional competitions for the first time in 1983. In 1988 he fought at the Soviet Spartakiad. A year after he became second in the Championship of Soviet Union and secured a spot on the Georgian National team, together with the top sambo fighters Jondo Muzashvili and Archil Chokheli (later two-times World Champion and a military officer who was killed defending five hostages along border with Russia in 2012). He continued his success by winning a gold medal at the 1991 European Sambo Cup, becoming the first national champion of Europe after restore of independence of Georgia. Later he won a bronze medal twice in the Cup of Europe (1992, 1993) and a silver one in the World championship.

Racing championships and accomplishments

In 2001 Meladze started car racing. Two years he spent competing with amateurs before receiving a professional license. He won his first national championship in 2002 in a Touring Cars category.

Rally

Circuit Racing

Motorsports and Road Safety Initiatives

In 2005 Meladze established GAC (Georgian Automobilists Club) and became its chief executive. He made arrangements and organized the 2005 FIA European Rally Cup (South) in Georgia. The club has promoted a number of amateur motorsports events, each one as a kind of socially significant initiative like “Drink responsibly”, “Follow the road signs”, “Think before you drive”, etc. In 2006 he launched a campaign for a mandatory seat belt use. At the end of 2010, after his speech to the Parliament, the law has been adopted. Since 2007 influential Georgian newspaper “Tbiliselebi” includes his column dedicated to the road safety. For 2012-2013 Meladze hosted the morning TV show at Georgian Channel 1. Since 2014 he is a resident expert at the top-rated Georgian channel Rustavi-2, “The Other Midday” show.

In 2008 Meladze was elected as president of the Georgian Automobile Federation, the national sporting authority recognised by the FIA. On the same year he developed and successfully executed a special training cours for Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs staff, then in 2012 - for the Police Academy; the latter has been terminated after the 2012 parliamentary election. While heading the Federation, Meladze promoted and supported several auto mobility programs, including the Caucasus Fuel Economy Initiative (CFEI).

Since 2006, he has realised a number of learning programs for International Red Cross, European Union Monitoring Mission to Georgia, Swiss Embassy and other international organizations. In 2008 he began a crusade against demolition of the old Rustavi race circuit and finally found an investor for its total reconstruction. After putting the new race track into service, Meladze created the first professional racing team in Georgia and became one of its drivers.

In the end of 2014 season he initiated the first-ever external event of the Georgian Championship at the Istanbul F1 Park in Turkey and won the race at the wheel of Formula Alfa competing against 14 rivals.

Other activities

In May 2014 Meladze as the vice-president of national motorsport federation (GASF) joined to the anti-drug campaign launched by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and gathered youngsters at the Rustavi Motorpark to help them get involved into breathtaking motorsport world.