Giorgi Tsereteli

Giorgi Tsereteli (გიორგი წერეთელი in Georgian. October 8, 1904-September 9, 1973) was a distinguished Georgian 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 (TSU), founder and first Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS), Academician of GAS, Meritorious Scientific Worker of Georgia, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor.

Life and works

Giorgi Tsereteli was born in 1904, in village Tianeti (Eastern Georgia). His father, Prince Vasil Tsereteli (1862-1937) was a well-known Georgian physician, journalist and public benefactor. His uncle Mikheil Tsereteli (1878-1965) was a distinguished historian.

In 1927 Tsereteli graduated from the Tbilisi State University (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 Semitology of this Faculty.

In 1946 he was elected as Academician (Full Member) of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS). In 1957-1967 he was Academician-Secretary (Chairman) of the Department of Social Sciences of GAS, in 1967-1970 Vice-President of GAS, in 1970-1973 member of the Presidium of the Academy.

In 1960 Tsereteli founded the Institute of Oriental Studies of GAS. 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 (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 100 important scientific-research works and about 10 monographs.

Giorgi Tsereteli died in 1973, in Tbilisi. 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 Rustaveli'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 Sciences
* Tbilisi State University

External links

* [http://www.webhostcorp.com/members/gtsereteli Professor Giorgi Tsereteli's Memorial Page]
* [http://www.acnet.ge/orient.htm The G. Tsereteli Institute of Oriental Studies]
* [http://www.acnet.ge The Georgian Academy of Sciences]