თედო სახოკია – პირველი ქართველი პროფესიონალი ეთნოლოგი/ანთროპოლოგი
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Date
2018
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Abstract
In 1850-1900 many Georgian intellectuals who received education in
Russia and Europe returned to Georgia. Those intellectuals cared about the future
of people and the country. They considered that for achievement of their
goals, implementation of educational system and development of science was
inevitably necessary. Tedo (Teodote) Sakhokia was one of those great patriots.
Tedo Sakhokia was born on 2 (14) March, 1868 in Samegrelo in the family of
clergyman. He was the first professional Georgian ethnologist. He gained his
professional skills in ethnology/anthropology in France first at Sorbonne University
and then at a high school of anthropology. In 1903 the scientist reported
his first scientific work in ethnology, which was devoted to the problem of popular
medicine, to the anthropological scientific society of Paris. Due to the high
scholarly value of the report, Tedo Sakhokia was elected as a foreign associate
member of Parisian society of anthropologists. The above-mentioned work
about Georgian traditions was the first one published abroad (in French language).
He also wrote and published his ethnologic investigations in Russian,
English and Italian languages. At field works, along with ethnographic materials,
he also collected ethnographic material protected not only in Georgia (nowadays
Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia) but abroad too (Ethnographic Museum
in St. Petersburg; Musée de l’Homme in Paris) etc. Collections gathered by
Tedo Sakhokia counts hundreds of samples.
The first Georgian professional ethnologist started his career by collecting
material in different historic-ethnographic parts of Georgia, namely in Guria, Ajara,
Samegrelo-Samurzakano, Abkhazia and Racha. Sakhokia was one of the
first researchers who revealed internal economic links among historic-ethnographic
regions of Georgia. The scholar dealt with almost all problems of Georgian
people’s life and culture – material culture, economic life, social relations and
intellectual culture. He revealed great interest in folklore. He gave substantial explanation of peculiarities of some traditions existing in different historicalethnographic
regions of Georgia, conditioned by geographic factors. Sakhokia
paid great attention to Georgians’ hospitality and their pre-Christian beliefs.
Sakhokia was interested not only in questions of historical ethnology. He
as a scientist educated in Europe, paid also great attention to modern problems
existing in different historical-ethnographic regions of Georgia. And most of all,
he was interested in questions of migration of rural population.
The question of Muslem Georgians was the subject of Sakhokia’s research.
Therefore, the most part of his field work was devoted to Ajara. He emphasized
the fact that the occupation of Ajara by the Ottomans did not cause
weakening of economic and cultural links of this region with the rest of Georgia.
Sakhokia paid attention to the question of migration of Adjarian Muslim
population to inner provinces of the Ottoman Empire. He also wrote about Adjarians’
historical memory, which served as a linking and integrating factor for
Georgians living in the Ottoman Empire.
Tedo Sakhokia paid attention to the Georgian provinces of Samurzakano
and Abkhazia. He even researched shepherds’ life. He put special emphasis on
Abkhazians’ powerless condition in the Russian Empire. They were deprived of
the right to reside in Sokhumi and nearby territories at a radius of 20 km. Sakhokia
paid interest to the fact that the Tsarist government encouraged the Russians
and Armenians to migrate to Abkhazia. He laid special emphasis on the
fact that acclimatization was no less problematic for the Russians as there was a
high level of mortality caused by malaria. Tedo Sakhokia’s observations on ethnic
composition of Abkhazia in the past is also noteworthy.
There was no need to arrange ethnographic expeditions to Samegrelo because
the scientist acquired all traditions typical for Samegrelo. His ethnological
studies of this region are interpreted and highly valued. His works sometimes go
beyond the scope of ethnography of Georgia. All of them manifest high level of
scientific knowledge related to this period. In his “Ethnographic Writings”, the
author surveys mythology, New Year traditions, beliefs etc. Giorgi Chitaya admittedly
wrote that “given material allows to restore the Georgian people’s ancient
beliefs and philosophy of life”.
Description
https://geohistory.humanities.tsu.ge/ge/procedings/83-shromebi/171-shromebi-14.html
Keywords
თედო სახოკია, ეთნოლოგია, ანთროპოლოგია
Citation
ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტის საქართველოს ისტორიის ინსტიტუტის შრომები, XIV, თბილისი, 2018, გვ. 410-441 / Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Institute of Georgian History Proceedings, XIV, Tbilisi, 2018, pp. 410-441