Dimitri Bakradze

Writer and Public Figure - Dimitri Bakradze was born in 1826 in the village of Khashmi, into the family of a priest. In 1852-1857, Bakradze worked at a school in Gori and in the same period, he published historical-ethnographic letters in Georgian and Russian periodicals. Under Bakradze’s initiative, the Society of Archeology-Enthusiasts of the Caucasus  was founded, on the basis of which the Society of History and Archeology of the Caucasus was created under his chairmanship. In 1881, under his leadership, the 5th Congress of Russian Archaeologists was held in Tbilisi, which greatly contributed to the expansion of research into the history of Georgia. In 1879, Bakradze, along with Dimitri Kifiani and Ilia Chavchavadze, took an active part in founding the Society for Spreading Literacy among Georgians. Ultimately, Bakradze laid the foundations for the auxiliary scientific fields of Georgian history  (e.g. paleography). He died in 1890 and is buried in the Didube Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures in Tbilisi.