The Tsereteli family ( ka, წერეთელი), also known as Tsertelev (Russian), is a noble family in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

(and partly, a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...

noble family) which gave origin to several notable writers, politicians, scholars, and artists.

History

According to traditional accounts, the family's ancestors had been chieftains in

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North Ca ...

იოანე ბატონიშვილი (

Ioane Bagrationi Ioane ( ka, იოანე ბაგრატიონი) (16 May 1768 in Tbilisi, Georgia – 15 February 1830 in Saint Petersburg, Russia) was a Georgian prince ( batonishvili), writer and encyclopaedist. Life A son of George XII, th ...

; 1768-1830)
"წერეთელი (იმერეთის თავადნი)" (Tsereteli [Princes of Imereti])
შემოკლებით აღწერა საქართველოსა შინა მცხოვრებთა თავადთა და აზნაურთა გვარებისა (''The Brief Description of the Georgian Noble Houses''). Retrieved on April 12, 2007. or

Ossetia Ossetia ( , ; os, Ирыстон or , or ; russian: Осетия, Osetiya; ka, ოსეთი, translit. ''Oseti'') is an ethnolinguistic region located on both sides of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, largely inhabited by the Ossetians. ...

,Церетели
''Russian Biographic Lexicon''. Retrieved on April 12, 2007. who fled the

Islamization Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occurre ...

of their homeland by

Tamerlane Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

and moved, through

Circassia Circassia (; also known as Cherkessia in some sources; ady, Адыгэ Хэку, Адыгей, lit=, translit=Adıgə Xəku, Adıgey; ; ota, چرکسستان, Çerkezistan; ) was a country and a historical region in the along the northeast ...

, into Christian Georgia in 1395. Constantine II,

King of Imereti The Kingdom of Imereti ( ka, იმერეთის სამეფო, tr) was a Georgian monarchy established in 1455 by a member of the house of Bagrationi when the Kingdom of Georgia was dissolved into rival kingdoms. Before that time, Im ...

(west Georgia) from 1392 to 1401, enfeoffed them of

Sachkhere Sachkhere ( ka, საჩხერე) is a town at the northern edge of the Imereti Province in Western Georgia. It is the center of the Sachkhere Municipality. Farming is a major contributor to the economy of Sachkhere. Alva LLC estimates tha ...

and conferred the dignity of prince (''

tavadi ''Tavadi'' ( ka, თავადი, "prince", lit. "head/chief" an from ka, თავი ''tavi'', "head", with the prefix of agent ''-di'') was a feudal title in Georgia first applied in the Late Middle Ages usually translated in English as Pr ...

'') upon them. The Tsereteli held a fiefdom in Upper Imereti called Satseretlo (საწერეთლო; "of Tsereteli") with their residence at Modinakhe, and eventually turned into one of the preeminent aristocratic families in Georgia. They frequently intermarried with other Georgian noble houses and even with the branches of Bagrationi royal dynasty in both western and eastern Georgia (e.g., Prince David Tsereteli married the sister of Alexander V of Imereti in 1736, while Zurab Tsereteli married his daughter, Kethevan, to the royal prince

Ioann of Georgia Ioane ( ka, იოანე ბაგრატიონი) (16 May 1768 in Tbilisi, Georgia – 15 February 1830 in Saint Petersburg, Russia) was a Georgian prince (batonishvili), writer and encyclopaedist. Life A son of George XII, the l ...

in 1787). A branch of the family followed King

Vakhtang VI of Kartli Vakhtang VI ( ka, ვახტანგ VI), also known as Vakhtang the Scholar, Vakhtang the Lawgiver and Ḥosaynqolī Khan ( fa, حسین‌قلی خان, translit=Hoseyn-Qoli Xān) (September 15, 1675 – March 26, 1737), was a Georgian ...

in his 1724 emigration to

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...

, where they came to be known as Tsertelev (russian: Цертелев, Церетели) and were absorbed into the Russian nobility.

Princes of Satseretlo

c. 1380-1590 – Twelve anonymous princes *Kveli (c. 1590-1620) *Bezhan, son (c. 1620-39) *Kaikhosro, son (c. 1640-60) *Kveli, brother (c. 1660-63) *Kveli, son of Kaikhosro (c. 1663-1710) *Papuna, son (c. 1710-38) *Kaikhosro, son (1738–69) *Papuna, son (1769–90) *Kaikhosro, son (1790–1810) 1810 to Russia; henceforth, princes (''

knyaz , or (Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependin ...

'') Tsereteli.

Notable members

Akaki Tsereteli Count Akaki Tsereteli ( ka, აკაკი წერეთელი) (1840–1915), often mononymously known as Akaki,Sometimes mistakenly rendered in Russian as Akakiy. Georgian spelling Akaki and Russian spelling Akakiy are both derived from t ...

(1840–1915), a prominent Georgian poet and public figure *

Gigi Tsereteli George "Gigi" Tsereteli (born 23 February 1964, in Tbilisi, Georgia) is a member and former vice-speaker of the Parliament of Georgia and the president of Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Educ ...

(born 1964), Politician and the President of OSCE PA * Giorgi Tsereteli (1842–1900), Georgian writer and journalist *

Giorgi Tsereteli (orientalist) Giorgi (George) V. Tsereteli FRAS (alternately transliterated as Cereteli) (გიორგი წერეთელი in Georgian, 8 October 1904 – 9 September 1973) was a Georgian scientist and public benefactor, founder of the well-known G ...

(1904–1973), Georgian Orientalist *

Grigol Tsereteli Grigol Tsereteli ( ka, გრიგოლ წერეთელი; March 12, 1870 – 1938) was a distinguished Georgian scientist, one of the founders of Papyrology, founder of the Georgian scientific school of Classical Philology, Doctor of ...

(1878–1938), Georgian philologist *

Irakli Tsereteli Irakli Tsereteli, ' russian: link=no, Ира́клий Гео́ргиевич Церете́ли, ' ( – 20 May 1959) was a Georgian politician and a leading spokesman of the Social Democratic Party of Georgia and later Russian Social Democrat ...

(1882–1959), Georgian

Social-Democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

politician * Mikheil Tsereteli (1878–1965), Georgian scholar, politician, and journalist *

Tamara Tsereteli Tamara Semyonovna Tsereteli ( ka, თამარ წერეთელი, russian: Тама́ра Семёновна Церете́ли, 14 August 1900, in Sveri, Kutais Governorate, Georgia, Russian Empire – 3 April 1968, in Moscow, USSR ...

(1900–1968), Georgian songstress * Vasil Tsereteli (1862–1937), Georgian politician and physician *

Zurab Tsereteli Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli ( ka, ზურაბ კონსტანტინეს ძე წერეთელი, russian: Зураб Константинович Церетели; born 4 January 1934) is a Georgian-Russian painter, sc ...

(born 1934), modern Russo- Georgian painter and sculptor. President of the

Russian Academy of Arts Russian Academy of Arts (RAKh / rus. РАХ, Росси́йская акаде́мия худо́жеств) is the State scientific Institution of Russian Federation, eligible heir to the USSR Academy of Arts. RAKh is the public cultural Insti ...

Zurab Semyonovich Tsereteli Zurab Semyonovich Tsereteli ( ka, ზურაბ წერეთელი; March 21, 1953 – 14 January 1992) was a Georgian professional footballer. Club career He made his professional debut in the Soviet Top League in 1973 for FC Dinamo ...

(1953–1992), Georgian footballer

References

{{Reflist Families of Georgia (country) Noble families of Georgia (country) Russian nobility Georgian-language surnames Surnames of Georgian origin