თედო სახოკია – პირველი ქართველი პროფესიონალი ეთნოლოგი/ანთროპოლოგი

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”.