Othar Zaldastani

Othar Zaldastani was born in Tbilisi on August 10, 1922, the son of Colonel Soliko Zaldastanishvili and Mariam Hirsely; and grandson of Nicholas Zaldastanishvili and Anna Tzitzishvili, and of Esthate Hirsely and Varvara Vatchnadze.  He left Georgia in 1925, with his mother and brother Guivy, to rejoin his father in Paris.  After the failure of the Georgian insurrection of 1924 against the Soviet occupying forces, Colonel Zaldastanishvili   (who had been one of the leaders of the insurrection) had taken refuge in Paris to join the exiled Georgian Government and its military staff under the command of General Kvintadze.

Othar Zaldastani grew up in France and was educated in some of its most prestigious academic institutions: the Sorbonne and the “Grandes Ecoles”.  He passed the Baccalaureat in 1939 with Honors, completed the program of Mathematiques Speciales at the Lycee E9 St. Louis in Paris, obtained a Degree of Sciences from the Sorbonne and the Diplome from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chausses (the oldest school of engineering in the world) where he graduated second in his class in  1945. He left France in 1946 to pursue scientific studies and research at Harvard University and was awarded a Master of Science Degree in 1947 and a Doctor of Science Degree in 1950.  His fields of interest covered several branches of Applied Science and Engineering and Applied Mathematics.

Dr. Zaldastani settled in Boston where his mother and brother had come to join him in 1948.  He became an American citizen in 1956.  He started his professional career as a Consulting Engineer while also continuing to be involved in academic and research programs.  He was appointed Gordon MacKay Visiting Lecturer in Structural Mechanics at Harvard in 1961 and commissioned by the U. S. Navy, Institute of Naval Studies to analyze the dynamics of submarine flexible hulls.

As Dr. Zaldastani’s practice evolved, his major activities became more concentrated in the design of structures participating  in more than 1000 projects in the United States, Europe, Africa and the Middle East including college and university buildings, long span structures, housing, hospitals, small structures such as the World War  II United States Armed Services Memorial in Caen, France, and major transportation and commercial centers, cultural and religious buildings   like the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C., the second largest church in the United States.  Dr. Zaldastani was President of Zaldastani Associates, Inc. from 1964 to 1989 and Chairman until 1997. He is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World.

Dr. Zaldastani was a recognized authority in his engineering fields.  He was the recipient of many of the National Awards given yearly to the best engineered projects in the United States by professional institutes.  For example, he received the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Awards in 1973, 1977, 1978, 1985, 1986, and 1987.  He is Co-Inventor of a Prestressed Concrete Beam and Deck System – U. S. Patent #3, #465, #484.

Othar served on the Board of several academic, business   and civic organizations such as a Trustee of Brooks School (Massachusetts) and Acting Chairman of its Building Department Committee 1987-1996; Trustee and Corporation Member of Wheelock College, Boston, Massachusetts, 1975-1995.  He was elected President of the Georgian Association in the United States in 1958 and served until 1965, and a Director of the American Friends of Georgia.

On June 22, 1963 Othar Zaldastani married Elizabeth Reily Bailey of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Mrs. Zaldastani is a descendant of distinguished families from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.  Together they have three children: Elizabeth, who also served as President of the Georgian Association, Anne and Alexander.

From his early days in France, Othar Zaldastani was exposed to and involved in Georgian Affairs.  The Georgian colony in Paris, determined to free Georgia from the Soviet occupation and communist oppression, was politically very active, but it was also very conscious of the need to nurture the younger generation with Georgian values.  Othar Zaldastani grew up in this political and cultural environment sustained by his father and godfather, Kakoutza Tcholokhashvili and his family’s dedication held the Georgian legacy alive in the Zaldastani Family.  Othar Zaldastani, Guivy Zaldastani and Elizabeth Zaldastani Napier and all their family have taken many initiatives to develop the educational, cultural and economic conditions of Georgia and maintain its heritage and identity.  In 1997, Othar Zaldastani and Guivy Zaldastani were granted Honorary Citizenship from the Georgian Government.