Research group involved in the grant project

Nino Shiolashvili

The principal investigator of the project, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Nino Shiolashvili has been an assistant-professor at St. Andrew the first called Georgian University since 2009; She is a specialist at National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia.

She has graduated from Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Faculty of History and Iv. Javakhishvili Institute of History and Ethnology postgraduate studies in the field of source studies. She defended his dissertation on “Georgian False Documents (XV-XIX centuries)”.

Nino Shiolashvili is the author of more than 20 scientific works and 6 monographs. She has published two monographs on the abovementioned issues: ‘Materials on population history of the Village Sno’ (1732-1918) and ‘Materials on the population history of the valley – Village Stepanstminda (1774-1918)’

1 ‘Registries of Interim Administration Session of the Georgian Orthodox Church’ (2016). It highlights many facts unknown to the society. Among them is the merit of some Georgian public figures in restoration and actual realization of the independence of Georgian Church.

2. „Caucasian Gate – Porta Caucasiae“ (2018). The book presents the history of one of the regions of Georgia – Khevi, from the prehistoric times until the 20th century.

Nino Shiolashvili is actively involved in the project of rehabilitation of Stepantsminda Historical Museum. He analyzed and described the museum’s manuscript fund. In 2008-2010 she was a participant of Shota Rustaveli Georgian National Science Foundation project – ‘History of Georgia in Toponymia’.

 

Tamar Pkhaladze

The key member and coordinator of the project, Dr. Tamar Pkhaladze, has been teaching since 2002 in various universities. She has defended her Doctoral thesis in the history of Georgian Church. She explores the issues of XIX-XX century Georgian history and church history. Tamar Pkhaladze has published more than 20 scientific article in the field of history and education, including a monograph ‘Georgian Orthodox Church and the issue of Georgian language in the second half of XIX century’. In 2014-2016 she participated in PPRTC project of the Public Policy Research and Training Center. She also took active part in both local and international conferences. Currently, she delivers lecture courses – at Ilia State University and Sokhumi State University – “History Teaching Methodology and Moderns Teaching Technologies”.

 

Lia Akhaladze

Lia Akhaladze is an associate professor and Doctor of History at Sokhumi State University. She studied in Abkhazia A.M. Gorky State University and TSU Sokhumi Branch, Faculty of History and Law. She has graduated from Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, postgraduate study in source studies and historiography. She defended his dissertation on “Georgian epigraphic monuments in Abkhazia in the IX-XVII centuries.”

Mrs. Lia Akhaladze studies different periods of Georgian history, historical sources, historiography, cultural history, epigraphic monuments and material culture of Abkhazia and Javakheti, history teaching methods, education policy, multicultural and multiethnic Georgian issues. She is actively involved in the international academic system.  Her works have been published in Georgian, English, Spanish, French, Czech, Russian, Arabic and Turkish languages. She is the author of over a hundred publications, including three monographs, two textbooks, several collective monographs, and the author and editor of collections.

Among her studies are: Epigraphic monuments of Abkhazia as a historical source, lapidary and fresco inscriptions (2005), Abkhazia as part of the “Kingdom of Abkhazia”. VIII century. The second half – X s. (In the collective research: Essays on the History of Georgia – Abkhazia, 2007 – in Georgian, 2009 – in Russian, 2011 – English), Abkhazia from the XI century to the 40s of the XIII century (in the collective research: Essays on the History of Georgia – Abkhazia, 2007 – in Georgian, 2009 – in Russian, 2011- in English);  On the issue of national-religious identification of Abkhazian kings (2013), Epigraphika Of Javakheti (2012), monuments of material culture of modern Abkhazia (posted on the website Expert.g), Multicultural and multiethnic Georgia (collective work, 2015) , Cultural Heritage of Georgia – Abkhazia (2014, 2015, 2018);

 Gvantsa Burduli

The key member of the project, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Gvantsa Burduli is the coordinator of history
discipline of the School of Humanitarian Sciences and Law under the St. Andrew the First Called Georgian University of
articles. She works on new and latest periods of the history ofGeorgia; Her field of interest is the source study the
Patriarch of Georgia. In 2012 she defended her doctoral thesis on the topic “Lawfulness of Georgian Church Autocephaly
at the Pre-Trial meeting of the Russian Church Council (1906)”. She is the author of three monographs and more than 10
scientific and historiography of the new and recent history of Georgia, the history of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

 

Gela Kistauri

The principal member of the project (Young scientist), Doctor of Historical sciences – Gela Kistauri has been studying the interrelation of mindsets of pre-Christianity folks and Christians, since 2009. Therefore he is familiar with the customs traditions of the mountainous regions of Georgia, syncretistic religion beliefs, superstitions, etc. The scientific achievements of Gela Kistauri are exemplified by a scientific monograph published with his authorship in 2014, ‘Paganism in Georgian Hagiographic Literature of the V – X Centuries and in Folk Christianity’. In the work, as a result of detailed analyses of Georgian Hagiographic Works of V – X Centuries, the passages containing the prehistoric beliefs and superstitions of our society and the reasons for their introduction into Christian literature are revealed.

He has also participated in both group and individually implemented field historical-ethnographic expeditions. He masters the needed methods for field information collection and processing and is experienced in practical work of source study. Through external and internal criticism he can explore-study narrative and documentary sources, created based on various material and introduce them in the scientific field.

 

Otar Zhizhiashvili

Consultant assistant of the project – Otar Zhizhiashvili, historian, Doctor, has been working as a researcher at the Department of Source Studies and Diplomacy of Korneli Kekelidze National Center of Manuscripts since 2009. He is studying Georgian History at the St. Andrew the First-Called Georgian University of the Georgian Patriarchate. The doctoral theme is the feudal house of the Charmaulians in the XIII-XVIII centuries.

At the National Center for Manuscripts, he is currently working on a database of catalogs of historical documents (Ad, Qd, Sd, Hd). He is the author of several scientific works and one monograph.

He published a monographic study about King Simon II of Kartli (1619-1630). No fundamental research has been done about this king so far, and his work is a novelty in this regard.