HISTORICAL-ETHNOGRAPHIC ESSAYS AND SERGI MAKALATIA

Abstract

One of the earliest graduates of the Philosophy Faculty of Tiflis State University, Doctor of Historical Sciences and professor Sergi Makalatia (1893–1974), made an immense contribution to the study of the history and ethnography of various regions of Georgia. It is particularly significant that he left for future generations a large body of material gathered during numerous expeditions. Alongside his historical works, he shaped the genre of historical-ethnographic essays ("Meskhet-Javakheti", "Ateni Gorge", "Borjomi Gorge", "Ksani Gorge") and works that, despite lacking the secondary title “Historical-ethnographic Essays,” follow the same model ("Kavtura Gorge", "Dzama Gorge", "Phrone Gorge", "Liakhvi Gorge", "Lekhura Gorge"), as well as major scholarly studies ("Mtiuleti", "Khevi", "Tusheti", "Pshavi", "Khevsureti", "Mountains of Racha", and "The History and Ethnography of Samegrelo"). The importance of the above-mentioned works is even greater considering that the researcher and ethnographer, who devoted forty years of dedicated service to the field of local history, was simultaneously the founder of the Gori N. Baratashvili State Pedagogical Institute and several museums (in Gori, Mestia, Tsageri, Kaspi and Stepantsminda). He investigated archaeology, numismatics and art, and his writings preserve a wealth of now-forgotten ethnographic material (especially from Abkhazia and Samachablo).

The aim of the article is to once again draw the attention of historians and ethnographers to the significance of S. Makalatia’s “Historical-Ethnographic Essays” from various regions.

Keywords:. Ethnography, history, gorge, historical-ethnographic essay.