Giorgi Tsereteli
Encyclopedia
Georgian language
Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
. October 8, 1904-September 9, 1973) was a distinguished Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
scientist and public benefactor, founder of the well-known Georgian scientific school of Oriental Studies and Arabist of world renown, founder of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the Tbilisi State University
Tbilisi State University
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University , better known as Tbilisi State University , is a university established on 8 February 1918 in Tbilisi, Georgia. TSU is the oldest university in the whole Caucasus region...
(TSU), founder and first Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies
Institute of Oriental Studies
Institute of Oriental Studies, sometimes also rendered as Institute of Orientalism may refer to a number of research and education institutions worldwide in the field of Oriental studies:...
of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences
Georgian Academy of Sciences
The Georgian National Academy of Sciences is a main learned society of the Georgia. It was named Georgian SSR Academy of Sciences until November 1990...
(GNAS), Academician
Academician
The title Academician denotes a Full Member of an art, literary, or scientific academy.In many countries, it is an honorary title. There also exists a lower-rank title, variously translated Corresponding Member or Associate Member, .-Eastern Europe and China:"Academician" may also be a functional...
of GNAS, Meritorious Scientific Worker of Georgia, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor.
Life and works
Giorgi Tsereteli was born in 1904, in village TianetiTianeti
Tianeti is a town in east-central Georgia, in the Caucasus Mountains. It is located at around .Tianeti is situated in the North-Eastern part of Georgia . According to the 2002 State Census, its population was 3598 people...
(Eastern Georgia). His father, Prince Vasil Tsereteli
Vasil Tsereteli
Vasil Tsereteli was a distinguished Georgian physician, journalist and public benefactor. He was born in a village Tskhrukveti , in the family of Prince Giorgi Tsereteli. His brother was Professor Mikheil Tsereteli, a famous Georgian historian and public benefactor...
(1862-1937) was a well-known Georgian physician, journalist and public benefactor. His uncle Mikheil Tsereteli
Mikheil Tsereteli
Prince Mikheil G. Tsereteli was a Georgian historian, philologist, sociologist and public benefactor, Dr.Sci., Professor....
(1878-1965) was a distinguished historian.
In 1927 Tsereteli graduated from the Tbilisi State University
Tbilisi State University
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University , better known as Tbilisi State University , is a university established on 8 February 1918 in Tbilisi, Georgia. TSU is the oldest university in the whole Caucasus region...
(TSU). In 1928-1931 he was a Post-Graduate Student of the Academy of Sciences of Soviet Union (since 1991 - Russian Academy of Science), in 1931-1933 Associate Professor of the Leningrad (now St.Petersburg) State Institute of Living Oriental Languages.
In 1933-1973 he was Associate Professor (1933-1942) and Professor (1942-1973) of the Tbilisi State University. 1933-1937 - Senior Research Fellow of the State Museum of Georgia. In 1940-1960 Tsereteli was a Head of the Department of Oriental Languages of the Institute of Linguistics of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS). In 1942 he received a degree of the Doctor of Philological Sciences and scientific title of Professor.
In 1945 Tsereteli was a founder of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of TSU, in 1945-1973 Head of the Department of Semitic studies of this Faculty.
In 1946 he was elected as Academician (Full Member) of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences (GNAS). In 1957-1967 he was Academician-Secretary (Chairman) of the Department of Social Sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
of GNAS, in 1967-1970 Vice-President of GNAS, in 1970-1973 member of the Presidium of the Academy.
In 1960 Tsereteli founded the Institute of Oriental Studies
Institute of Oriental Studies
Institute of Oriental Studies, sometimes also rendered as Institute of Orientalism may refer to a number of research and education institutions worldwide in the field of Oriental studies:...
of GNAS (Tsereteli Institute of Oriental Studies at the Ilia State University now). In 1960-1973 he was a first Director of this Institute.
In 1968 Tsereteli was elected as Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Soviet Union (now Russian Academy of Science). He was also an Honorary Member of the Royal Asiatic Society of the Great Britain and Ireland (1964) and an Honorary Member of the Society of Orientalists of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(1966).
Main fields of scientific activity of Giorgi Tsereteli were: Arabic dialects of the Central Asia, Arabic linguistics and folklore, Hebrew and Aramaic studies, history of old languages of the Near East, history of writing systems, history of the Georgian script, source studies of the history of Georgia and the Caucasus, Rustvelology, questions of theoretical linguistics, etc. He was author of more than 100 important scientific-research works, among them 10 monographs.
Giorgi Tsereteli died in 1973, in Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
. He is buried in the garden of the Tbilisi State University.
Some of main scientific works of Giorgi Tsereteli
- "The Urartian inscriptions of the State Museum of Georgia" (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1939, 110 pp. (in Georgian, Russian and English)
- "The Armazi inscription of the period of Mithridats the Iberian".- Proceedings of the XXV International Congress of Orientalists, Moscow, 1962, pp. 374-378 (in Russian, English summary)
- "The Bilingual inscriptions from Armazi" (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1941, 80 pp. (in Russian, English summary)
- "Arabic Dialects of the Central Asia. Bukhara Dialect" (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1956, 343 pp. (in Russian, English summary)
- "The ancient Georgian inscriptions from Palestine" (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1960, 110 pp. (in Georgian and English)
- "The Meter and Rhyme in Shota RustaveliShota RustaveliShota Rustaveli was a Georgian poet of the 12th century, and one of the greatest contributors to Georgian literature. He is author of "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" , the Georgian national epic poem....
's Poem "The Man in the Panther's Skin" (a monograph).- "The Meter and Rhyme in "The Man in the Panther's Skin"". Edited by G.V. Tsereteli, Tbilisi, 1973, pp. 2-120 (in Georgian) - "The influence of the Tajik language on the vocalism of Central Asian Arabic dialects".- BSOAS, vol. XXXIII, Part 1, London, 1970, pp. 167-170
- "The Verbal Particle m/mi in Bukhara Arabic".- "Folia Orientalia", vol. XII, 1970, pp. 29-35.
See also
- List of Georgians
- Georgian Academy of SciencesGeorgian Academy of SciencesThe Georgian National Academy of Sciences is a main learned society of the Georgia. It was named Georgian SSR Academy of Sciences until November 1990...
- Tbilisi State UniversityTbilisi State UniversityIvane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University , better known as Tbilisi State University , is a university established on 8 February 1918 in Tbilisi, Georgia. TSU is the oldest university in the whole Caucasus region...