Born into a family of noble standing in Imereti [a western region of Georgia], Minadora Orjonikidze-Toroshelidze went to Geneva to study medicine. It was there that she got introduced to Marxism and her future husband Malakia, a Bolshevik. Together they returned to Tbilisi, and she plunged into activism as a member of the Menshevik faction of the socialist movement.
In 1918, along with four other Georgian women she put her signature on the Georgian constitution. After Georgia was forced to become a part of the Soviet Union, Minadora participated in anti-Soviet activity, which got her arrested and exiled repeatedly. Her husband and sons were executed by firing squad.