Didebulidze Aleksandre

Aleksandre Didebulidze [14 (26) December 1882, Tbilisi – 18 April 1951, Tbilisi] was a scholar, a full member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences (1944), Doctor of Technical Sciences (1943), professor (since 1918), an Honored Scientist and Technician of Georgia (1941). He was also one of the pioneers of color photography in Russia.

He graduated from the Riga Polytechnic Institute in 1911. Between 1910 and 1916, he worked at the same institute, and in 1916–1917, he worked in Odessa, where he actively participated in the establishment of a polytechnic institute.

In 1918, Didebulidze returned to Georgia. He became a professor at the Tbilisi Polytechnic Institute (1919–1926) and served as its Rector from 1920 to 1921. He headed the Department of Physics at Tbilisi State University (TSU) from 1919 to 1933, was the first dean of the Polytechnic Faculty at TSU (1922–1926).

From 1923 to 1925, he directed the Tbilisi Geophysical Observatory; from 1932 to 1938, he headed the Department of Electrotechnics at the Transcaucasian Institute of Communication Engineers; from 1936 to 1945, he led the Department of Agricultural Electrification at the Georgian Agricultural Institute and from 1948 to 1951, he directed the Energy Institute of the Georgian Academy of Sciences.

In collaboration with K. Amirajibi, Didebulidze created the first electric tractor in the USSR (1930), as well as the first long-range irrigation sprinkler for crops (1932). He was the author of several significant technical inventions. Under his leadership, on 3 September 1923, the first scientific expedition of the Georgian Geophysical Observatory ascended Mount Kazbegi, which, along with G. Nikoladze’s expedition, marked the beginning of Soviet mountaineering history. This was the first time geophysical studies were conducted on the Devdaraki Glacier and Mount Kazbegi.

He received various state honors and awards.

Literary works: ელექტროტექნიკის თეორიული საფუძვლები (სახელმძღვანელო), ნაწ. 1, ტფ., 1927; ელექტრო და მაგნიტომეტრია (სახელმძღვანელო), ტფ., 1929; Цветная фотография на солях серебра, Рига, 1915; Фоторепродукция невидимого, Тб., 1948 (თანაავტ. Г. А. Дидебулидзе).

Bibliography: ალექსანდრე დიდებულიძე. ბიობიბლიოგრაფია, შემდგ. გ. მგელაძე, თბ., 1985.