Alexander Kartveli

Aircraft designer, chief engineer at Republic

1896–1974

Alexander Kartveli, born Kartvelishvili (1896–1974), came from Tiflis and became one of the major aircraft designers of the twentieth century. His surname means, literally, son of a Georgian.

In 1919 he left to study in France and in 1922 graduated from the higher school of aviation in Paris. There was nowhere to return to: Soviet power had been established in Georgia, and Kartveli stayed in emigration, moving to the United States at the end of the twenties.

In America he worked for Alexander de Seversky and then became chief designer at Republic Aviation. From there came the P-47 Thunderbolt, one of the most successful fighters of the Second World War, the jet F-84 Thunderjet and F-84F Thunderstreak, and the supersonic F-105 Thunderchief.

Last in that line stands the A-10 Thunderbolt II: it entered service after the designer's death, but grew out of the engineering school Kartveli had built at Republic. Streets in Georgia carry his name, and a memorial plaque stands in Tbilisi.