Dvali Raphiel

Raphiel Dvali [22 March (4 April) 1909, Zestaponi – 8 September 1985, Tbilisi] was a prominent scientist in the field of mechanical engineering. He was a full member of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (1955), held a Doctorate in Technical Sciences (1948), was appointed professor in the same year, and was named an Honored Scientist of Georgia in 1961. He served as Vice President of the Georgian Academy of Sciences from 1958 to 1972 and was a member of the Main Editorial Board of the Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia.

Dvali graduated from the Transcaucasian Energy Institute, Faculty of Mechanics, in 1931. He founded and headed the Department of Automobiles, Tractors, and Auto-Tractor Engines at the Georgian Technical University (1946–1966) and was one of the founders and the director of the Institute of Mechanics of Machines under the Georgian Academy of Sciences (founded in 1960, directed by him in 1962 and again from 1972 to 1985). Since 1994, the institute bears his name.

Dvali’s main scientific works focused on the theory of automobiles and tractors, the dynamics of machines, and the study of tractor operation on mountain slopes and vehicle movement on mountainous roads. He authored Georgian-language textbooks on the theory of automobiles and tractors and conducted research on the dynamics of mobile machinery. His monograph "Theory of the Tractor" (1970) was awarded the State Prize of Georgia in 1973.

He was an honorary member of the GDR Academy of Sciences (1971), and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Dresden (1972). He received several state awards.

Literary works: ვტომობილის თეორიის საფუძვლები, თბ., 1973; К вопросу механизации горного земледелия, Тб., 1964; Механическая тяга в горной местности, М., 1970 (თანაავტ. В. Махалдиани).

Literature: ა ხ ა ლ დ ი ა ნ ი ვ., გამოჩენილი ქართველი მეცნიერი, «მეცნიერება და ტექნიკა », 1969, № 4; К о р н е е в С. Г., Советские ученые – почетные члены иностранных научных учреждений, М., 1973 (თანაავტ. В. Махалдиани).

Bibliography: რაფიელ დვალი. ბიობიბლიოგრაფია. შემდგ.: ნ. ბაღათურია, ი. დუდუჩავა, თბ., 1979.

V. Nakhaldiani