Berdzenishvili Nikoloz
Nikoloz Berdzenishvili (born December 28, 1894, in the village of Gogolesubani, modern-day Chokhatauri Municipality; died July 16, 1965, in Tbilisi) was a historian and a full member of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (1944). He was a professor (1939) and PhD of Historical Sciences (1943).
He studied at Tbilisi State University from 1920 to 1926 in the Faculty of Philosophy, focusing on history. In 1939, he was appointed as a professor. From 1956 to 1965, he was the director of the Ivane Javakhishvili Institute of History, and from 1946 to 1956, the head of the Department of Georgian History at Tbilisi State University. He was also vice president of the Georgian Academy of Sciences from 1951 to 1957.
Berdzenishvili’s research encompassed almost all areas and periods of Georgian history, including social, economic, political, cultural, and ecclesiastical history of medieval Georgia. He conducted research in social history focusing on four interrelated issues of feudal landownership, serfdom, principalities, and the periodization of Georgian history.
His work came to the following conclusions: 1. Various forms of feudal landownership in Georgia began in the pre-Christian era; 2. The serfdom (as an institution) was established earlier than the term itself appeared (15th century); 3. The 10th century marked the end of the early feudal era and the beginning of strong feudalization processes. By the 12th century, the country entered advanced feudalism, culminating with the full victory of serfdom and the establishment of a centralized monarchy. Berdzenishvili’s work also showed that feudal territories (seniorities) appeared in Georgia in the early Middle Ages. A process of territorial unification and liquidation of these entities began in the 8th century. In the 12th century, following external invasions, a “second version” of seniority (Satavado) emerged; 4. He defined the term Satavado and its role in the history of late-mediaeval Geogia.
Based on the research of social history of medieval Georgia, Berdzenishvili define following periods: the early feudal period (6th-7th centuries), the transitional period from early to late feudal eras (8th-9th centuries), the period of developed feudalism (10th-12th centuries), stagnation of developed feudalism (13th-14th centuries), the era of principalities (Satavados) (15th-18th centuries), and the decline of feudalism and the rise of capitalism in the first half of 19th century.
Berdzenishvili is also credited with the founding of historical geography as an independent discipline in Georgian historical science (1956) and for his contributions to publishing Georgian historical sources, particularly documentary materials.
He received numerous state awards and is buried in the Mtatsminda Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures.
Literary works: საქართველოს ისტორიის საკითხები, წგ. 1 – 9, თბ., 1964 – 79.
Literature: დ უ მ ბ ა ძ ე მ., ნიკო ბერძენიშვილის ცხოვრება და მოღვაწეობა, თბ., 1978; ნიკო ბერძენიშვილი. ბიობიბლიოგრაფია, თბ., 1981.
N. Shoshiashvili
D. Muskhelishvili
E. Berose
