1848 – 1913
A daughter of Davit Dadiani and Ekaterine Chavchavadze, Salome Dadiani was born in Zugdidi. After the abolition of principality of Samegrelo, in 1875, Salome’s mother Ekaterine, who had been ruling the principality for four years, left it with her family to reside first in St. Petersburg and then in France and Germany.
In 1868, in Paris, Salome married Prince Charles Louis Napoléon Achille Murat who was born in New Jersey in the United States. A wedding ceremony, which was held at the church in Tuilerries Palace, was attended by French Emperor Napoleon III and his Queen Eugenie de Montijo.
In 1870, Achille and Salome returned to Samegrelo and settled in a beautiful wooden palace on the grounds of the Dadiani’s residences complex in Zugdidi. Achille got engaged in agricultural activity, namely introduced several types of imported French wine grapes to Samegrelo and began the systematic cultivation of local ojaleshi grape. Salome conducted charity activities.
After the death of her husband, Salome moved to Paris, where she died after a long illness in 1913.
“We were informed from Zugdidi that as Droeba wrote, the countess Salome promised to open a school for women in Zugdidi; she contributed money for the construction of the building and paid 200 rubles annually. This school, intended for educating 20 daughters of peasants for free, has not started operation yet, but everything is ready and the countess even temporarily rented a house until the building is built. Now, we are given hope that with the help of several persons, the school will open within a month’s time. This piece of news is even more pleasant considering that the desire to obtain education is very much spread among Mengrelians.”
The newspaper Droeba, issue #7; 11 January, 1884