Kandid Charkviani (Georgian: კანდიდ ჩარკვიანი, Russian: Кандид Несторович Чарквиани; 12 February 1907 – 13 September 1994) was a Georgian party and government official, and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Georgia from 1938 to 1952.

Born in the Tsageri, Lechkhumi region of Georgia. Charkviani graduated from Kutaisi Gymnasium and Tbilisi Engineering Institute. He began his career working for several publications, including major Georgian newspapers.

Charkviani rose to the position of First Secretary of the Georgian SSR through support of Joseph Stalin. Yet Charkviani's promotion was met with strong resistance from Lavrenti Beria, who had been planning to find a replacement for this position amongst his own protégés. However, Stalin made the choice in favour of the young Charkviani (then 32).

Stalin first learned of Charkviani by reading his articles in the Georgian newspapers. Stalin was appreciative of Charkviani's literary talent so he encouraged the promotion of the youth. Charkviani was appointed Head of the Department of Education and Culture at the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia. In September of the same year he assumed his duties as First Secretary of Georgia's Writer's Union. In this post he made a major contribution to the preparation of an important literary event – the commemoration of the 750th anniversary of "The Knight in the Panther's Skin", a classic poem by 12th century Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli. On 31 August 1938 he was elected as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia. He remained in this post until April 1952.

Geronti Kikodze, a prominent 20th century Georgian literary critic and thinker, in his memoirs secretly written in 1954, while harshly criticizing the Communist regime and its leaders, distinguishes Kandid Charkviani for his humane qualities and strong administrative skills: "Charkviani did not lack compassion, he was not easily convinced by informers, and overall, he was a balanced and modest man. In general, Charkviani was rather rational in handling the affairs of the republic." (p. 46)

Kikodze is illustrative of the tensions existing between Charkviani and Beria's people who worked in the Georgian Intelligence Services. He cites an example when, after the Second World War, supposedly on the orders of Beria, who had a personal grudge against Kikodze, Beria's protégés in the Georgian NKVD fabricated charges against him accusing him of having links with Nazi Germany. Kikodze writes that through the interference of Charkviani, the charges against him were lifted (pp 48–50).

Charkviani presided over the rapid industrialization of Georgia. On his initiative in the post-war years several major projects were implemented despite the resistance on the part of various officials in Moscow bureaucracy. Among them were the Rustavi Metal Works and the town of Rustavi. The original plan supported by Stalin was to build the facility within the boundaries of the capital city Tbilisi. It was on the insistence of Charkviani, who gave priority to environmental considerations, that the plan was altered and eventually, the new town of Rustavi was built along the large scale metallurgical plant. Other projects included the Automobile Plant in Kutaisi (the second largest city in Georgia), man-made water reservoir ("The Tbilisi Sea"), Tbilisi Subway (Metro) which despite many artificially caused delays was ultimately completed in 1965, as well as dozens of small-scale hydro power stations in various provinces.

The complexities of the period were largely due to the Second World War and post-war reconstruction. Charkviani was highly instrumental in organizing the production of weaponry and heavy military equipment (fighter planes, etc.) in Georgia. Throughout World War II Georgia also supplied to the front large amounts of agricultural products. During this period the production increased significantly.