IVANE GVARAMADZE’S COLLABORATION WITH GEORGIAN CLOISTER OF ISTANBUL

the 100th anniversary

Abstract

Ivane Gvaramadze collaborated with Petre Kharischirashvili and the Cloister established by him in Istanbul. He was Petre Kharischirashvili’s one of the first students and participants in establishing the Cloister in Istanbul. After returning from Istanbul Ivane Gvaramadze, provided with certain ideas and plans, began an active social life and gathered all the patriots around him. The strongest hotbed of Meskhetian Enlightenment was established under his leadership in Samtskhe – Javakheti in XIX c. Ivane Gvaramadze was the very man, who systematically gave an advice and instructions to the residents of Cloister. They used to share their impressions with him, took students to Cloister by his recommendations and regulated their relations with their family members. Ivane Gvaramadze translated necessary materials from Armenian newspapers. Ivane Gvaramadze knew the importance of Cloister very well and its residents’ activities for Georgia. He was a hope of inhabitants of the Cloister and if they needed to regulate some affairs in their homeland they asked him to do it. He often translated French and Armenian texts books by the request of Peter Kharischirashvili. Later the books were used at Georgian schools to study the subject well As it is seen from his letters, he was actively involved in the life of Cloister, he worked out plans for the future and made joint decisions on all important is-sues.