Dr. Anna Dolidze was born in Tbilisi, in what was then the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia. As a child, she experienced the dissolution of the Soviet Union, including a civil war and secessionist conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In high school Dolidze won a scholarship to live with an American family and attend high school in Vermont. Upon her return, Dolidze started law school at Tbilisi State University, where she graduated with honors.
In her final year she took part in the Telders International Law Moot Court Competition, and was honored as the Best Respondent and Best Oralist. She became a clerk at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. Thereafter Dolidze worked for the international humanitarian organization Save the Children in Georgia. She was awarded a full fellowship by the Dutch government to study at Leiden University where she earned Masters Degree in International Law (LLM). In 2004 Dolidze was elected Chairperson of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA). As the head of the largest legal advocacy organization in Georgia, she oversaw program activities conducted by 125 lawyers, took part in drafting legislative reform proposals, practiced civil rights litigation and represented the organization in National Constitutional Commission, Commission for the Human Rights in Prisons and the Expert Commission for Georgia’s European Integration. In 2006, Dolidze spearheaded a nation-wide campaign to prosecute high-level government security officials implicated in the murder of Sandro Girgvliani. In 2007 Dolidze left Georgia for United States as a Scholar at Risk because it was increasingly difficult to practice civil rights litigation.
Dolidze has lectured transnationally, including at Duke University, Sorbonne University, University of Berkeley, Cambridge and Oxford Universities, Queens University of Belfast and Elmira Maximum Security Correctional Facility in New York State. She conducted human rights documentation and research for Russia Justice Initiative and Human Rights Watch. Then she earned her Doctorate in Law (SJD) at Cornell Law School with full financial scholarship and residential fellowship at Telluride House. In 2012 Dolidze addressed the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the United States Congress on human rights violations in Georgia. In 2013 she became assistant professor of law at the University of Western Ontario, where she taught property law and international law.
In May 2015 Dolidze was appointed as Deputy Minister of Defence for Republic of Georgia, overseeing the areas of education, social benefits and rehabilitation of wounded warriors. In June 2016 the President of Georgia appointed Dr. Dolidze as the Parliamentary Secretary of the President of Georgia, overseeing rule of law related issues as well as serving as the main liaison between the office of the President and the Parliament of Georgia.
Dr. Dolidze has published widely on international law, human rights and transitional justice in academic as well as policy journals.