Georges V. Matchabelli, Georgian-American businessman, created Prince Matchabelli perfume (died 1935)

Prince Georges Vasili Matchabelli was a Georgian perfumer. A nobleman and diplomat, he emigrated to the United States after the 1921 Soviet invasion of Georgia.

Prince Matchabelli is a perfume line, first designed by Prince Georges V. Matchabelli who was an amateur chemist. Matchabelli was born in Georgia within the Russian Empire but when the Czarists fell Georgia seceded. From 1918 until 1921 Georgia was an independent country and established diplomatic relations abroad. In 1921 the Russian SFSR invaded Georgia and absorbed it as a Socialist Republic. Georges Matchabelli was a Georgian prince and Georgian ambassador to Italy, but fled the Soviet Union and emigrated to the United States after the Russian Revolution. In New York City he and his wife, Princess Norina Matchabelli, opened a small antiques shop, Le Rouge et le Noir, at 545 Madison Avenue. The name came from Stendhal's novel of that name, which they interpreted as the red for the aristocracy for him and black for the religious. They later established the Prince Matchabelli Perfume Company in 1926. Perfumes were personally blended for clients by Prince Matchabelli. The first three perfumes were Princess Norina, Queen of Georgia and Ave Maria. The company became known for the many color-coded, crown-shaped bottles designed by Norina after the Matchabelli crown and introduced in 1928 with labels on the underside, which were made by another Georgian George Coby.