Arnold Chikobava


Arnold Stephanes dze Chikobava was a Georgian linguist and philologist best known for his contributions to Caucasian studies and for being one of the most active critics of Nicholas Marr's controversial monogenetic "Japhetic" theory of language.

Biography

Chikobava was born in the small village of Sachikobavo in the Samegrelo region of western Georgia, then part of Imperial Russia. He was initially named Benedicte Chikobava but later changed his name to Arnold in order to differentiate himself from another Georgian academic named Benedicte Chikobava, who had caused some controversy in local newspapers and was being confused with the other Chikobava.
He graduated from the recently established Tbilisi State University in 1922 and earned a degree there, later serving as a docent and professor. For years, he headed the Department of Caucasian Studies at Tbilisi State University, and the Department of Ibero-Caucasian languages at the Institute of Linguistics in Tbilisi. The institute, briefly directed by Chikobava from 1950 to 1952, now bears his name.
In 1941, he became one of the founding members of the Georgian Academy of Sciences and was elected to its Presidium from 1950 to 1963. For his prolific work, he was awarded numerous Soviet and international prizes and titles. He authored a series of Georgian dictionaries and influential works on the structure and history of Caucasian languages.
Most of his fame, however, came through his criticism of Marr's speculative linguistic theory that had been adopted, for a while, as an official ideology by Soviet scholars. While most of Marr's opponents came under heavy pressure from the Soviet authorities, Chikobava benefited from his friendship with the First Secretary of the Georgian Central Committee, Kandid Charkviani, and continued his attacks against Marr's hypotheses. Finally, he sent his report to Joseph Stalin; he met Stalin personally in 1950. Soon, Stalin denounced Marr's theory in his famous Pravda article on linguistics.
Chikobava died in Tbilisi at the age of 87. He was buried on the grounds of Tbilisi State University.

Selected publications

  • Проблема простого предложения в грузинском языке. 1928; 2-е изд. 1968. 1928, 2nd ed. 1968.
  • Грамматический анализ чанского диалекта с текстами. Тб., 1936. dialect with texts.
  • Чанско-мегрельско-грузинский словарь. 1938.
  • Проблема эргативной конструкции в иберийско-кавказских языках. 1948.
  • Введение в языкознание. 2-е изд. М., 1953. Ч. 1.
  • Проблема языка как предмета языкознания. М., 1959.
  • Аварский язык. 1962.
  • История изучения иберийско-кавказских языков. 1965.
  • Проблемы родства иберийско-кавказских языков. Махачкала, 1965.
  • Введение в иберийско-кавказское языкознание.'' 1979.