distinguishes Leonida from princesses of other once-sovereign families of the Russian Empire who married Romanovs. Nonetheless, it was the agnatic seniority of the Mukhranbatoni’s descent from Georgia’s former kings, rather than the broken treaty, that Vladimir Kirilovich cited in a 1946 decree recognizing the Bagration-Mukhranskys as dynastic for marital purposes, presumably so as to avoid repudiating the Russian Empire's annexation of Georgia. The language of article VI guaranteed the Georgian throne not only to King Erekle II and his direct issue, but also embraced "the Heirs and descendants to his House". On the other hand, article IX offered to extend no more than "the same privileges and advantages granted to the Russian nobility" to Georgia's princes and nobles. Yet first on the list of families submitted to Russia to enjoy noble (not royal) status was that of the Mukhranbatoni. That list included twenty-one other princely families and a larger number of untitled nobles, most of whom were enrolled in Russia's nobility during the 19th century. The claims made on Maria's behalf have long embittered Romanov descendants who belong to the Romanov Family Association. Many of them descend matrilineally from noble Russian princesses, some of whose families were also of "dynastic" origin, but cannot claim that a Treaty of Georgievsk has "preserved" their "dynasticity". In 1983, the Soviet authorities celebrated the bicentennial of the Treaty of Georgievsk, provoking protests from anti-Soviet Georgian dissidents. In this period, several monuments to commemorate the treaty, among them the Russia–Georgia Friendship Monument along the Georgian Military Road. Georgia's underground Samizdat publication, Sakartvelo (საქართველო), dedicated a special issue to the event, emphasizing imperial Russia's disregard of the key agreements in the treaty. Underground political groups disseminated leaflets calling on Georgians to boycott the celebrations, and several young Georgian activists were arrested by the Soviet police. References Sources Anchabadze, Dr. George. History of Georgia Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh. 1980 "Burke’s Royal Families of the World: Volume II Africa & the Middle East", Further reading David Marshall Lang: The Last Years of the Georgian Monarchy: 1658–1832. Columbia University Press, New York 1957. Nikolas K. Gvosdev, Imperial policies and perspectives towards Georgia: 1760–1819. Macmillan [u.a.], Basingstoke [u.a.] 2000, . "Traité conclu en 1783 entre Cathérine II. impératrice de Russie et Iracly II. roi de Géorgie". Recueil des lois russes; vol. XXI, No. 15835, Avec une préface de M. Paul Moriaud, Professeur de da Faculté de Droit de l’université de Genève, et