Kakheti

Getting to Know Georgia #8

by Iakob Gogebashvili, Brian George Hewitt (Translator)

Iakob Gogebashvili (1840-1912) was a Georgian educator, children’s writer and journalist. His most influential work, namely "Mother Tongue", an introduction to Georgian for children, has gone through numerous editions to serve as a textbook in Georgian schools for over a century.

Another of his major works is "The Door to Nature", which builds fable and an introduction to natural sciences into a miniature children’s encyclopaedia. It also included contemporary descriptions of the different regions of Georgia (plus neighbouring territories). Presented in our book is part of the survey devoted to the eastern province of Kakheti.

32 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Georgian educator, children’s writer and journalist, considered to be the founder of the scientific pedagogy in Georgia. In 1879, he helped found the Society for the Spreading of Literacy Among Georgians through which he channeled his efforts aimed at countering Russification, especially in the school system, and at reversing the erosion of Georgian language whose status he compared with that of a "wretched foundling, deprived of all care and protection." Gogebashvili quickly gained influence among the constellation of intellectuals around Prince Ilia Chavchavadze who spearheaded the movement for Georgian national revival until his assassination in 1907.