Dimitri Bakradze

Dimitri Bakradze ( ka, დიმიტრი ბაქრაძე) (26 October 1826 – 10 February 1890) was a Georgian scholar who authored several influential works in the history, archaeology and ethnography of Georgia and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

. He was born in the village Khashmi in the family of a priest in

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region ( mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises e ...

, eastern Georgia, (then under the

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. T ...

n rule). In 1851 he graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy. Educated at the theological academies of

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

and

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Bakradze worked as a teacher at Gori and a governmental clerk at

Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...

in the 1850s. At the same time, he regularly wrote articles on Georgia's history and ethnography for Georgian and Russian press. In 1861, Bakradze permanently settled in Tbilisi where he energetically engaged in public and scholarly activities. In 1875, he published his resonant work ''The Caucasus in Ancient Monuments of Christianity'' (russian: Кавказ в древних памятниках христианства). In 1878, Bakradze was the first scholar to have travelled and studied Adjara and

Tao-Klarjeti Tao-Klarjeti may refer to: *Tao-Klarjeti Tao-Klarjeti may refer to: * Tao-Klarjeti, part of Georgian historical region of Upper Kartli * Kingdom of Tao-Klarjeti, AD 888 to 1008 {{set index article Kingdom of Iberia Historical regions of Ge ...

, the historical Georgian lands recently recovered from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. His accounts of this research appeared in several publications and, in 1879, he was elected a corresponding member of

Imperial Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Among the works of Bakradze, those published in the Georgian language stand out: "History of Georgia" (1889), "Georgia and Georgians" (1854); as well as published in Russian "Caucasus in the ancient monuments of Christianity" (1875), "Archaeological journey through Grugia and Adchara" (1878), "Articles on the history and antiquities of Georgia" (1887). He helped found the

Society for the Spreading of Literacy Among Georgians The Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians ( ka, ქართველთა შორის წერა-კითხვის გამავრცელებელი საზოგადოება, tr; also translated as the ...

(1879), Society of Amateurs of Caucasian Archaeology (1873), the Society for Caucasian History and Archaeology (1881; chaired it until 1886) and the Museum of Church Antiquities at the

Tbilisi Sioni Cathedral The Sioni Cathedral of the Dormition () is a Georgian Orthodox cathedral in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Following a medieval Georgian tradition of naming churches after particular places in the Holy Land, the Sioni Cathedral bears the name o ...

(1889). His last major work, ''The History of Georgia'' (Georgian: ისტორია საქართველოსი), appeared in 1889 and was an insightful study into the history of Georgia from the beginnings to the end of the 10th century. Bakradze died in Tbilisi in 1890 and is buried at the

Mtatsminda Pantheon The Mtatsminda Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures ( ka, მთაწმინდის მწერალთა და საზოგადო მოღვაწეთა პანთეონი, ''mtats'mindis mts'eralta da sazogado mo ...

. He has a street named after him in Tbilisi. His son,

Zakaria Bakradze Zakaria (Shakro) Bakradze ( ka, ზაქარია (შაქრო) ბაქრაძე, pl, Zachariasz Bakradze) (22 October 1868, in Tbilisi – 3 December 1938) was a Georgian military officer who served as a general in the Democratic R ...

, went on to serve as a general in the Georgian and

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armies. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakradze, Dimitri 1826 births 1890 deaths Burials at Didube Pantheon People from Kakheti People from Georgia Governorate 19th-century historians from Georgia (country) Archaeologists from Tbilisi Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Writers from Tbilisi