Grigol Peradze (
St. Priest Martyr Grigol), (September 13, 1899 - December 6, 1942) was a famous
GeorgianGeorgia Georgia Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the east by Azerbaijan...
ecclesiastic figure, theologian, historian,
ArchimandriteThe title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise...
,
PhDPHD may refer to:* Parisada Hindu Dharma, an Indonesian reform organization* PHD, a track on The Crystal Method album Tweekend* PHD finger, a protein sequence* PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company...
of History, Professor.
Life and works
Grigol Peradze was born in the village of Bakurtsikhe, in the
GurjaaniGurjaani is a town in Georgia, located in the region of Kakheti and serving as a center of the Gurjaani district.Gurjaani is situated in the Alazani Valley, 415 m above sea level, and 122 km east of the nation's capital Tbilisi. As of the 2002 census, its population is approximately 10,000. The...
district of the
KakhetiKakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabitant by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and mountain-range of Greater Caucasus to the north, Azerbaijan to the east and the south, and the Georgian province of...
region, in Eastern Georgia. His father, Romanoz Peradze, was a priest.
In 1918 Peradze graduated from the
TbilisiTbilisi 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 Tp'ilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
Theological Seminary, and afterwards studied at the
Tbilisi State UniversityTbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili 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...
until 1921.
On February 25, 1921, Georgia was occupied by Soviet Russia. Grigol Peradze went into exile in Germany in November the same year.
In 1926 he graduated from the
University of BonnThe University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in 1818 the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number of undergraduate and graduate programs in a range of subjects. Its library holds...
(Germany). In 1927 he received a PhD degree in History (the title of his PhD thesis was "
History of the Georgian Monasticism from its creation until 1064").
From 1927 - 1932 Peradze was an Associate Professor at the University of Bonn. From 1933 - 1942 he was a Professor of Patrology at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of Warsaw University, in
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is 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...
.
In 1931, Grigol Peradze was ordained a priest in the
Greek OrthodoxThe Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members...
Cathedral of London; in 1934, he received the rank of Archimandrite. In 1931, he founded a Georgian St. Nino
OrthodoxThe Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church traces its origins to the mission of Apostle Andrew in the 1st century. It is an autocephalous part of the Eastern Orthodox Church since 4th century A.D...
church in Paris. In the same year he began to publish a Georgian scientific journal titled "
Jvari Vazisa" ("Cross of Vine").
In the 1930s, Peradze discovered numerous important written manuscripts of Georgian Christian culture in
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
,
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
, Greece, Italy, Germany, and
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
(Georgian manuscripts of the Typicon of the Georgian Petritsoni Monastery (Bachkovo, Bulgaria), the so-called Tischendorf manuscripts of the Apagae of the Monastery of the Holy Cross at the University Library in the
University of LeipzigThe University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in Europe and the second-oldest university in Germany...
, Germany, etc.).
The invasion of Poland by German troops in 1939 made Peradze's position precarious. For him being in solidarity with Jews in peril went without saying; and he helped wherever he could. Nor did he hesitate to visit the imprisoned Polish Metropolitan Dionysios. These activities were viewed with growing suspicion by the Nazi occupiers and Peradze's fruitful ecclesiastic and scientific activities were brought to an end in 1942 when, on May 4, he was arrested by the German
GestapoThe was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning in April 1934, it was under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel under Heinrich Himmler in his position as leader of the SS and Chief of German Police...
. On December 6, 1942, Grigol Peradze was killed in the
NaziNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
concentration camp of
AuschwitzAuschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of Nazi Germany's concentration camps and extermination camps, operational during World War II.The camp took its German name from the hosting town of Oświęcim. Following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Oświęcim was annexed by Nazi Germany and...
(
OświęcimOświęcim, Lesser Poland Voivodeship is a town in southern Poland, situated west of Kraków, near the confluence of the rivers Vistula and Soła...
) when he entered a gas-chamber instead of a Jewish prisoner who had a large family.
Main fields of scientific activity of Grigol Peradze were: the history of the
Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic ChurchThe Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church traces its origins to the mission of Apostle Andrew in the 1st century. It is an autocephalous part of the Eastern Orthodox Church since 4th century A.D...
, source studies of the history of Georgia and the Georgian Church, Patrology, history of Georgian literature, Rustvelology (
Shota RustaveliShota Rustaveli was a Georgian poet of the 12th century, and the greatest classic of Georgian secular literature. He is author of "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" , the Georgian national epic poem.- Biography :...
was a great Georgian poet of the 12th century), etc.
Grigol Peradze was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church in 1995. The Feast Day for St. Priest Martyr Grigol is December 6.
Some main scientific works of Grigol Peradze
- Die Anfänge des Mönchtums in Georgien.- "Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte", 47, Heft 1, Stuttgart, 1928, pp. 34-75 (in German)
- L'activité littéraire des moines géorgiens au monastère d'Iviron au mont Athos.- "Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique", 27, Fasc. 3, Paris, 1927, pp. 530-539 (in French)
- Über das georgische Mönchtum.- "Internationale Kirchliche Zeitschrift", 34, Heft 3, Bern, 1926, pp. 152-168 (in German)
- Die Probleme der ältesten Kirchengeschichte Georgiens.- "Oriens Christianus", 29, Bd. 7, Wiesbaden, 1932, pp. 153-171 (in German)
- Zur vorbyzantinischen Liturgie Georgiens.- "Le Museon", 42, Fasc. 2, Louvain, 1929, pp. 90-99 (in German)
- Les Monuments liturgiques prébyzantins en langue géorgienne.- "Le Museon", 45, Fasc. 4, Louvain, 1932, pp. 255-272 (in French)
- The Liturgy of Saint Peter.- "Kyrios", 2, Fasc. 3, 1937, pp. 260-262
- An Account of the Georgian Monks and Monasteries in Palestine as revealed in the Writings of Nongeorgian Pilgrims.- "Georgica", 2, Vol. 4-5, London, 1937, pp. 181-246
- Über die Georgischen Handschriften in Österreich.- "Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes", 47, Heft 3-4, Wien, 1940, pp. 219-232 (in German)
- Im Dienste der Georgischen Kultur.- "Aus der Welt des Ostens", Königsberg, 1940, pp. 30-50 (in German)
Literature about Grigol Peradze
- Victor Nozadze. "Grigol Peradze".- Georgian journal "Mamuli", Buenos-Aires, No 5, 1952
- Tamar Dularidze. About the life and death of Grigol Peradze.- "Russkaia Misl", New York, 13-19.VII, 1995 (In Russian)
- "Artanuji" (The Georgian historical scientific journal), Tbilisi, No 11, 2003 (Special issue: Grigol Peradze), 120 pp (In Georgian)
- David Kolbaia (editor) "St. Grigol (Peradze) works nr 1, in: Pro Georgia Journal of Kartvelological Studies nr 13, 200.
External links