Grigol Tsereteli ( ka, გრიგოლ წერეთელი; March 12, 1870 – 1938) was a distinguished Georgian scientist, one of the founders of

Papyrology Papyrology is the study of manuscripts of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is papyrus, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations ...

, founder of the Georgian scientific school of

Classical Philology Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...

, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Meritorious Scientific Worker of Georgia, Honourable Professor.

Life and works

Grigol Tsereteli was born in 1870, in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. His father, Prince Filimon Tsereteli, was a well-known lawyer and public benefactor. In 1893 Tsereteli graduated from the University of St. Petersburg. In 1893-1897 he was a Lecturer of the St Petersburg Archaeological Institute, in 1897-1902 Associate Professor of the

Berlin University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humboldt ...

(

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

), in 1902-1905 Associate Professor of the University of St Petersburg. In 1905 he received a PhD degree in Classical Philology. In 1905-1914 Tsereteli was a Professor and Head of the Department of Classical Philology of the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. In 1914 he received a degree of the Doctor of Philological Sciences. In 1914-1920 he was a Professor and Head of the Department of Classical Philology of the University of St. Petersburg. In 1917 Tsereteli was elected as Corresponding Member of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences (now the

Russian Academy of Science The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

). In 1918-1920 he was a Visiting Professor of the

. In 1920-1937 Tsereteli was a Professor and Head of the Department of Classical Philology of the

Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი, tr; often shorten ...

(

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

). In 1923-1931 he was also Director of the Scientific Library of the Tbilisi State University. Tsereteli was elected as Honorary Member of the Society of Papyrology of Germany (1918) and Honorary Member of the Berlin Institute of Archaeology (1927). He was author of many outstanding scientific works in the fields of papyrology, classical philology and history of the old Grecian literature. Grigol Tsereteli was a victim of the political repressions of 1937 in Soviet Georgia (the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

). In 1937 he was jailed by

GPU A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed for digital image processing and to accelerate computer graphics, being present either as a discrete video card or embedded on motherboards, mobile phones, personal ...

, and he died in prison in 1938. Tsereteli is buried in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, in the Mtatsminda Pantheon of distinguished Georgian public benefactors.

Some of the main works of Grigol Tsereteli

* "Berliner Griechische Urkunden". III, 5, Berlin, 1900 (in German) * "Berliner Griechische Urkunden". IV, 2, Berlin, 1904 (in German) * "New comedies of Menandre" (a monograph), Tartu, 1914 (in Russian) * "La Papyrologie Greque, en Russie".- "Chronique d'Égypte", XII, Bruxelles, 1931 (in French) * "Papyri Russischer und Georgisher samlungen". Herausg. von G. Zereteli. Bearb. von G. Zereteli, O. Kruger und P. Yernstedt. Ed. G. Zereteli. I-V, Tbilisi, 1925-1935; Amsterdam, 1966-1967 (in German)

References

External links

*
Tbilisi State University (TSU)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsereteli, Grigol 1870 births 1938 deaths Writers from Saint Petersburg Philologists from Georgia (country) Soviet historians 20th-century historians from Georgia (country) Papyrologists Academic staff of Tbilisi State University Scientists from the Russian Empire

Life and works

Some of the main works of Grigol Tsereteli

See also

References

External links