Academician Konstantine Tsereteli – 100
- December 21, 2021
100 years have passed since the birth of a prominent representative of the Georgian school of Semitology, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor, full member of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, merited scholar Konstantin Tsereteli. His works made a name for the Georgian school of Semitology, which was founded by outstanding Georgian scholar Academician Giorgi Tsereteli. The activity of the worthy disciple of the great researcher was fruitful. His entire scholarly heritage sets an example for a new generation of researchers.
It is widely acknowledged at present that the works of K.Tsereteli in Aramaic dialectology laid a foundation for a broad study of problems of this scholarly field and gave an impetus to its intensive development in Oriental Studies worldwide. Today from the viewpoint of research into Modern Aramaic dialectology intensive work is underway in Germany and Italy, the USA and Israel, Japan and Great Britain. Acad. K.Tsereteli is rightly considered to be the father of Aramaic dialectology, which is evidenced by numerous reviews concerning his works and the author himself. Rarely a work is encountered in this sphere in which the works of Acad. K.Tsereteli are not mentioned. David Lang wrote in this regard: “Professor Tsereteli gained a worldwide reputation for his fundamental research on modern Aramaic dialects”. In the words of well-known Czech Semitologist Karel Petráček, Konstantin Tsereteli is one of the major linguists in the field of Modern Aramaic, which is demonstrated by his numerous works. Stanislav Segert (USA) noted that K.Tsereteli’s work The Modern Assyrian Language provides a reliable basis for further research. There are many similar evaluations.
Over the last two decades of the 20th c. the main object of research of K.Tsereteli was Hebrew-Aramaic epigraphy. The importance of this area for the history of Georgian culture is immeasurable. Specialists are well aware of the merit of Acad. K.Tsereteli in the field of linguistic and cultural-historical relations of the Georgians and the peoples of the Near East. Characterizing the scholarly work of Acad. K.Tsereteli, his teacher Academician Giorgi Tsereteli noted: “The brilliant results that the researcher achieved in his scholarly work were due to his rare linguistic flair and diligence.”
K.Tsereteli was the teacher of a whole generation of Georgian Semitologists. He paved the way to scholarly activity for numerous Semitologists, including foreign researchers. At present, specialists trained by Academician Konstantin Tsereteli are working successfully both in Georgia and abroad. Acad. K. Tsereteli was a member of a number of foreign scholarly societies.
The merit Acad. K.Tsereteli before science is duly recognized by international centres of Oriental Studies. He was elected a member of many international societies.
