The Life and Legacy of Grigol Peradze

Abstract

Immortalizing, popularizing and honoring the memorable deeds of ancestors is the civic duty of every person. Georgia is rich in such memorable and well-known facts. Among many, the life and work of St. Grigol Peradze is outstanding, which was unknown to the Georgian society for a long time. Only at the end of the XX century, fragments of his work became known to the Georgian society. Some of his works, articles describing his life and work, preaching, letters were published. The period of Grigol Peradze's teaching and working in Germany, the significance of his works from the codicological point of view were studied.

As a result of many years of work, three four-volume books depicting the life and work of St. Grigol Peradze, prepared by Professor Davit Kolbaia, were published at the University of Warsaw. The publication, besides being a systematized publication, is also important in that it includes new materials discovered in various repositories about the life and work of St. Grigol Peradze.

In 1995, the Georgian Orthodox Church canonized Grigol Peradze as a saint. A chapel and a church named after Grigol Peradze were founded in Poland. Since 2002, the conference of Caucasologists dedicated to the memory of St. Grigol Peradze has been held annually at the University of Warsaw. The name of Grigol Peradze is placed on the memorial plaque of those who died in the Second World War at the University of Warsaw. In 2010, the award named after Grigol Peradze was established. Grigol Peradze University was established in Tbilisi. Grigol Peradze's house-museum in his native village of Bakurtsikhe was rehabilitated. The icon of St. Grigol Peradze was created. One of the streets of Tbilisi was named after Grigol Peradze.

In 2019, at the initiative of Ivane Javakhishvili Institute of History and Ethnology of Tbilisi State University, an international conference dedicated to the anniversary of St. Grigol Peradze (120 years) was held in Georgia. With the support of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation, the materials of the conference were published, in which the life and work of St. Grigol Peradze was presented with an interesting theme.

Such is the activity for immortalizing the name of St. Grigol Peradze for today. In order to properly appreciate his merits, the work of specialists will continue in the future.